This study aimed to address the issues involved in the planning and design of a computer waste management system in an integrated manner. A decision-support tool is presented for selecting an optimum configuration of computer waste management facilities (segregation, storage, treatment/processing, reuse/recycle and disposal) and allocation of waste to these facilities. The model is based on an integer linear programming method with the objectives of minimizing environmental risk as well as cost. The issue of uncertainty in the estimated waste quantities from multiple sources is addressed using the Monte Carlo simulation technique. An illustrated example of computer waste management in Delhi, India is presented to demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed model and to study tradeoffs between cost and risk. The results of the example problem show that it is possible to reduce the environmental risk significantly by a marginal increase in the available cost. The proposed model can serve as a powerful tool to address the environmental problems associated with exponentially growing quantities of computer waste which are presently being managed using rudimentary methods of reuse, recovery and disposal by various small-scale vendors.
ABSTRACT. Management of computer waste is a growing concern and is more serious in developing countries where rudimentary methods of reuse, recovery and disposal are in frequent use which poses grave environmental and health hazards. Hence there is a clear reason to be concerned about the management scheme for computer waste which will be cost effective and also environmentally friendly. However, assessment of risk from the management of computer waste is a difficult task due to uncertainty in exact composition of toxic constituents and their release mechanism in the environment. The present study attempts to assess the risk associated with various computer waste management activities in relative terms and presents an integer linear goal programming based multi time step optimal material flow analysis model to achieve satisfaction of multiple objectives of economy and health and environmental risk. The model selects various treatment and disposal facilities from a given set and allocates optimum quantities of waste to them along chosen transportation routes, depending on different priorities to cost and risk. An illustrated hypothetical example of computer waste management is presented to demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed formulation. Uncertainty in the waste generation quantities has been addressed using Monte Carlo simulation.
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