Ranking sewage sludge management strategies by means of Decision Support Systems: A case study

Giorgio Bertanza, Pietro Baroni and Matteo Canato

Resources, Conservation & Recycling, 2016, vol. 110, issue C, 1-15

Abstract: Waste management planning is a complex task involving a variety factors and professional skills. In order to avoid oversimplification leading to the risk of adopting inappropriate solution the relevant decision problems should be tackled with: (a) a comprehensive decision model (including technical, environmental, economic, social, etc. factors) and (b) a suitable decision supporting tool. In this work as far as (a) is concerned we propose a model based on more than 30 parameters for the evaluation of sewage sludge management strategies. As to (b) we implemented this model by employing both a worksheet (“home made” option) and a DSS commercially available (“buy” option). As a case study, we considered the selection of the sewage sludge management strategy in a 500,000 inhabitants area comparing the following alternatives: Agricultural use, Incineration, Wet Oxidation and recovery in Cement Kiln. The assessment of the four alternatives led to the following preference order: Agricultural use≫Incineration>Cement Kiln≅Wet Oxidation. Finally, a discussion on the make-or-buy dilemma and on pros and cons of decision support methods is reported. As a result, a paradigm shift defined make-and-buy approach is proposed.

Keywords: Costs; Decision support; Environmental impact; Biosolids; Technical issues; Sewage sludge management planning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:recore:v:110:y:2016:i:c:p:1-15

DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2016.03.011

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