Resource Recovery Planning Model: A New Tool for Solid Waste Management

摘要

The Resource Recovery Planning (RRPLAN) model is designed with three purposes in mind. First and foremost, is the ability to generate a preferred plan for resource recovery. Second is the capability to evaluate a scenario specified by the decision maker for technical and economic feasibility. Third is its use as a tool to facilitate the decision making process by providing answers to many what-if questions through an in-depth sensitivity analysis. This report presents a non-technical discussion of the RRPLAN model. The basic philosophy behind the model is one of optimization. This approach was taken because it permits the economic and engineering data associated with the problem (e.g., waste generation rates and the location of processing facilities) to be organized in an objective manner. Although the model can focus on energy as its main objective, the minimization of the costs of processing a region's solid waste stream is believed to be the objective most often emphasized by decision makers. An example based on this objective is critically analyzed and used to illustrate how the model would be applied in practice.