ICQSWM: An inexact chance-constrained quadratic solid waste management model

An inexact chance-constrained quadratic solid waste management (ICQSWM) model is developed for planning municipal solid waste (MSW) management systems. The ICQSWM improves upon existing methods of inexact two-stage chance-constrained linear programming (ITCLP) and interval quadratic programming (IQP). It can tackle uncertainties presented as both probability distributions and discrete intervals; moreover, it can be used for analyzing various policy scenarios which are associated with different levels of economic penalties when the promised targets are violated. It can also reflect the effects of economies of scale under uncertainty. The developed method is applied to a case study of waste-flow-allocation planning within a MSW management system. The results indicate that the ICQSWM model not only provides an effective tool for reflecting system cost variations but also generates decision alternatives; the solutions obtained can thus help managers to identify desired policies under various environmental and system-reliability constraints and economic objectives. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.