Decision support systems in solid waste management: A case study at the national and local level in Greece

Abstract

Decision support systems (DSS) are used to aid at solid waste management, a tedious problem with many technical, economic and social constraints. The main DSS available are briefly presented and the development of a novel system, ReFlows, is described. The novelty of the developed DSS consists of the detailed analysis of the collection subsystem and in particular the source separation and collection programs for recyclables materials. ReFlows utilises mathematical equations for material and financial flows, organised in several subroutines, to simulate the various sub-systems of an integrated solid waste management system and may be applied to any geographical scale, from the local to the national. The model, currently developed in MATLAB, is applied on recycling scenarios based on the degree of expansion of the different source collection schemes currently operating in Greece.Results are presented at a national (Greece) and a local level (Municipality of Athens). The main outcome of the study is that full expansion of the existing schemes may not fulfil the recovery goals for packaging waste in Greece. Improved collection schemes are required, based on more pilot programs in order to investigate the optimum recycling strategy.

Sustainable metropolitan areas perspectives through assessment of the existing waste management strategies

“…Additionally, although these plans have been drawn up by scientific groups (either inhouse or outsourced) it is noted that the huge ever-growing body of scholarly literature dealing with MSW, which is found to be consisted with the findings of the current research, and which would greatly contribute towards achieving the main sustainability objective, is flagrantly ignored. More particularly, Abeliotis et al (2009), studying Greece, developed a novel decision support system for MSW, while Zotos et al (2009) developed a systemic approach for MSW summarizing the stateof-the art available tools while compiling a set of guidelines for developing waste management master plans at the municipal level. Economopoulos in 2010 suggested a methodology for developing strategic municipal solid waste management plans.…”