Optimization analysis for the development of short-team solid waste management strategies using presorting process prior to incinerators

This paper explores a new idea that an operational program in a solid waste management system should be based on not only the cost-saving principle but also the energy and material recovery requirements. The proposed optimization analysis illustrates an evaluation of how the waste inflows with different rates of generation, physical and chemical compositions, and heating values in the service areas can be processed by centralized presorting facilities to meet both the energy recovery and throughput requirements for the target incinerators. A case study in the Taipei metropolitan region shows the application potentials of such a planning methodology. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.