A client/server computer framework for solid waste management decision analysis in Taiwan

Due to the complexities of real-world systems, solid waste management programs have to be quickly reorganized for handling various types of issues; These issues are intimately related to solid waste generation, collection, recycling, treatment and disposal. It appears that management personnel usually suffer from the technical burdens of large amount of obsolete data, requirements of spatial analysis, limitations of computational capability and lacking analytical procedures. Building a computerized decision support system through the integration of computer network and client/server databases is crucial to ease many solid waste management practices. This paper is the culmination of 2 years of experience in information technology for nationwide solid waste management decision analysis. The computer framework is designed for handling enormous amount of information flows for solid waste management among local, regional, and central environmental protection agencies. With such a client/server computer network system, the time and the steps needed to find a satisfying solution to those solid waste management issues should be dramatically shortened in the future. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.