Optimal regional planning in solid waste management

Abstract

This study investigates the application of linear programming and mixed integer programming techniques for the optimal allocation of waste stream and facility scheduling of a regional solid waste management system, over affixed planning period. Waste disposal options include land filling and waste diversion through recycling and composting. The regional system consist of multiple cities, landfills, material recovery facilities, compost facilities and transfer stations. Mathematical models used for the optimization are formulated to minimize the present worth cost of providing waste management services, subject to mass balance and capacity limitation constraints of the facilities. A hypothetical case study is presented to illustrate the use of the models formulated.