Sustainable Optimization of Waste Management Network to Energy Products
over Extended Planning Time Horizon
Abstract
This study proposes a multiperiod mixed integer linear programming model
for the management of a single municipal solid waste (MSW) treatment
plant with sustainability as the objective. Discrete and continuous
variables define the capacity selections for diverse MSW technologies,
and the operation of the MSW network, respectively. The economic target
is considered to maximize the net present value. The environmental
impact is the minimization of a normalized environmental objective
function (NEOF). The social target is the maximization of jobs. An
interesting feature about the research work is the requirement of
biodrying technologies for MSW moisture content control. Due to the
conflicted nature among the sustainability components, a multi-objective
optimization (MO) is carried out to find the Pareto optimal solutions.
The MO results show that the Pareto optimal solutions vary around profit
range of US$ 4.9-8.5 billion, NEOF impact range of 3.2-3.6 units, and
social benefit range of 2700-4828 jobs.