A new approach for long term planning of solid waste management systems using fuzzy global criterion

Abstract
Recent studies regarding solid waste management system planning frequently emphasize that both socioeconomic and environmental impacts have to be considered simultaneously. While the total elimination of environmental risks is impossible, the analytical concern actually rests upon the concept of the minimization of both environmental risks and costs in an efficient management system. But uncertainty plays an important role in decision making. The related impreciseness/fuzziness of environmental risks were rarely taken into account in previous models. This paper illustrates a new approach, using fuzzy global criterion technique, to show how the concept of fuzzy environmental resources can be incorporated into an optimization process and create a set of more flexible optimal planning alternatives. A fuzzy multiobjective mixed integer programming model for long term planning of metropolitan solid waste management systems is applied as a method for generating such alternatives. The practical implementation of this approach is assessed by a case study in the City of Kaohsiung in Taiwan.