An Approach to the Economic Analysis of Solid Waste Disposal Alternatives

In this best practice paper a mixed integer optimization approach to the selection of sanitary landfill site sizes and locations in a regional context is explained and illustrated using stylized cost and location information adapted from a real case study. After reviewing the basics of the heuristic approach to solid waste disposal site selection, the optimization model is laid out and solved in the case study context, initially in terms of financial costs. In a subsequent section, a way of incorporating the relative environmental damages of alternative locations into the model is suggested, and the example is re-solved with environmental costs included to show how they can influence the identification of the best set of sites. Suggestions about model refinements appear in a concluding section.