scholarly journals Waste treatment company decision-making in a complex system of markets influenced by the circular economy

2021 ◽  
pp. 129672
Author(s):  
Stien Snellinx ◽  
Jef Van Meensel ◽  
Siavash Farahbakhsh ◽  
Liselot Bourgeois ◽  
Anouk Mertens ◽  
...  
Processes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 764
Author(s):  
Renato Sarc

ReWaste4.0 is an innovative and cooperative K-Project in the period 2017–2021. Through ReWaste4.0 the transformation of the non-hazardous mixed municipal and commercial waste treatment industry towards a circular economy has started by investigating and applying the new approaches of the Industry 4.0. Vision of the ReWaste4.0 is, among others, the development of treatment plants for non-hazardous waste into a “Smart Waste Factory” in which a digital communication and interconnection between material quality and machine as well as plant performance is reached. After four years of research and development, various results have been gained and the present review article summarizes, links and discuss the outputs (especially from peer-reviewed papers) of seven sub-projects, in total, within the K-project and discusses the main findings and their relevance and importance for further development of the waste treatment sector. Results are allocated into three areas, namely: contaminants in mixed waste and technical possibilities for their reduction as well as removal; secondary raw and energy materials in mixed waste and digitalization in waste characterization and treatment processes for mixed waste. The research conducted in ReWaste4.0 will be continued in ReWaste F for further development towards a particle-, sensor- and data-based circular economy in the period 2021–2025.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 3939
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Pikoń ◽  
Nikolina Poranek ◽  
Adrian Czajkowski ◽  
Beata Łaźniewska-Piekarczyk

The purpose of the study presented in this text is to show the influence of COVID-19 on waste management systems and circular economy stream, and their impact on circular economy, particularly the economic impact of the pandemic on the waste management sector, impact on circular economy objectives’ implementation as well as additional challenges like the need for hygienization of waste streams during different implementation efforts, such as changes in the municipal solid waste market and different waste processes of their disposal. Additionally, some methods—such as thermal treatment—which seemed to be not fully aligned with the circular economy approach have advantages not taken into account before. Incineration of higher volume of waste affects the waste structure and will change some of the circular economy objectives. The analysis was carried out on the example of the Polish market.


2018 ◽  
Vol 174 ◽  
pp. 01006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Břetislav Teplý ◽  
Tomáš Vymazal ◽  
Pavla Rovnaníková

Efficient sustainability management requires the use of tools which allow material, technological and construction variants to be quantified, measured or compared. These tools can be used as a powerful marketing aid and as support for the transition to “circular economy”. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) procedures are also used, aside from other approaches. LCA is a method that evaluates the life cycle of a structure from the point of view of its impact on the environment. Consideration is given also to energy and raw material costs, as well as to environmental impact throughout the life cycle - e.g. due to emissions. The paper focuses on the quantification of sustainability connected with the use of various types of concrete with regard to their resistance to degradation. Sustainability coefficients are determined using information regarding service life and "eco-costs". The aim is to propose a suitable methodology which can simplify decision-making in the design and choice of concrete mixes from a wider perspective, i.e. not only with regard to load-bearing capacity or durability.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chang Liu ◽  
Pratibha Rani ◽  
Khushboo Pachori

PurposeDue to stern management policies and increased community attentiveness, sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) performs a vast component in endeavor operation and production management. Sustainable circular supplier selection (SCSS) and evaluation presented the environmental and social concerns in the fields of circular economy and sustainable supplier selection. Choosing the optimal SCSS is vital for organizations to persuade SSCM, as specified in various researches. Based on the subjectivity of human behavior, the selection of ideal SCSS often involves uncertain information, and the Pythagorean fuzzy sets (PFSs) have a huge capability to tackle strong vagueness, uncertainty and inaccuracy in the multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) procedure. Here, a framework is developed to assess and establish suitable suppliers in the SSCM and the circular economy.Design/methodology/approachThis paper introduced an extended framework using the evaluation based on distance from average solution (EDAS) with PFSs and implemented it to solve the SCSS in the manufacturing sector. Firstly, the PFSs to handle the uncertain information of decision experts (DEs) is employed. Secondly, a novel divergence measure and parametric score function for calculating the criteria weights are proposed. Thirdly, an extended decision-making approach, known as PF-EDAS, is introduced.FindingsThe outcomes and comparative discussion show that the developed method is efficient and capable of facilitating the DEs to choose desirable SCSS. Therefore, the proposed framework can be used by organizations to assess and establish suitable suppliers in the SCSS process in the circular economy.Originality/valueSelecting the optimal sustainable circular supplier (SCS) in the manufacturing sector is important for organizations to persuade SSCM, as specified in various research. However, corresponding to the subjectivity of human behavior, the selection of the best SCS often involves uncertain information, and the PFSs have a huge capability to tackle strong vagueness, uncertainty and inaccuracy in the MCDM procedure. Hence, manufacturing companies' administrators can implement the developed method to assess and establish suitable suppliers in the SCSS process in the circular economy.


Author(s):  
Jung Leng Foo ◽  
Eliot Winer

Decision making in a complex system requires a large amount of data, and real time interaction and visualization tools become effective solutions. Constant improvement in computer graphics technology has encouraged the research of developing better and more efficient ways of interacting and visualizing complex three-dimensional image data. This paper presents a unique software framework for interacting and visualizing complex volume image data in a virtual environment. For efficient user interactions, a wireless gamepad controller is used as the main input device. The buttons and joysticks on the gamepad controller are intuitively mapped to perform different functions depending on the feature mode that the software is currently in. Apart from the general viewer, an extension of the software also reads in standard format patient medical images such as CT/MRI scans. As an effective decision making tool, the software allows the user to apply fast pseudo-coloring and multiple interactive oblique clipping planes for an immersive detailed examination of any 3D model. In the medical imaging extension of this software, it features the ability for the user to select a specific range of tissue densities to render and an endosurgery planning mode that allows a surgeon to place simulated laparoscopic surgical instruments in a virtual model of the patient. The developed software allows for better interaction with complex volume data for use as a decision making and evaluation tool.


Author(s):  
Ana Cristina Pego

The use of renewable energy and recycling products is one of the main achievements of organizations. The circular economy (CE) is a new concept which evolves out of a new management assumption in organizations based on recycling, reuse, and repurposing of products. The circular economy provides a framework for facing challenges and a guide for rethinking and redesigning the future. This chapter analyzes the Portuguese market for circular economy organizations based on discussion of the CE conceptual model. The circular economy is expected to contribute positively by introducing new methodologies for the production of raw materials, with new production processes and giving value to eco products. The challenge for Portuguese organizations is to create management “vectors” which promote networking innovation, labor, capital, and eco products. Overall, the conceptual model presented gives importance to Portuguese business decision making for sustainable consumption, which provides advancements in business for the green supply chain.


Author(s):  
Yuri P. Pavlov ◽  
Rumen D. Andreev

A complex system with human participation like “human-process” is characterized with active assistance of the human in the determination of its objective and in decision-taking during its development. The construction of a mathematically grounded model of such a system is faced with the problem of shortage of mathematical precise information that presents the human activity. A solution of this problem is to seek expression of different aspects of the complex system through description of the expert's preferences as an element of the system. The presentation of human preferences analytically with utility functions is an approach for their mathematical description. The objective of the article is to present an innovative approach to value driven modeling of management that bases on preference-oriented decision making. It is described a decision technology that realizes measurement of human's preferences as analytic utility function. The utility theory and stochastic approximation are possible solution of this problem that results in a value-based approach to modeling of complex systems.


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 2306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christos Vlachokostas ◽  
Charisios Achillas ◽  
Ioannis Agnantiaris ◽  
Alexandra V. Michailidou ◽  
Christos Pallas ◽  
...  

Lately, the model of circular economy has gained worldwide interest. Within its concept, waste is viewed as a beneficial resource that needs to be re-introduced in the supply chains, which also requires the use of raw materials, energy, and water to be minimized. Undeniably, a strong link exists between the bioeconomy, circular economy, bioproducts, and bioenergy. In this light, in order to promote a circular economy, a range of alternative options and technologies for biowaste exploitation are currently available. In this paper, we propose a generic methodological scheme for the development of small, medium, or large-scale units of alternative biowaste treatment, with an emphasis on the production of bioenergy and other bioproducts. With the use of multi-criteria decision analysis, the model simultaneously considers environmental, economic, and social criteria to support robust decision-making. In order to validate the methodology, the latter was demonstrated in a real-world case study for the development of a facility in the region of Serres, Greece. Based on the proposed methodological scheme, the optimal location of the facility was selected, based on its excellent assessment in criteria related to environmental performance, financial considerations, and local acceptance. Moreover, anaerobic digestion of agricultural residues, together with farming and livestock wastes, was recommended in order to produce bioenergy and bioproducts.


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 1845
Author(s):  
P. Giovani Palafox-Alcantar ◽  
Dexter V. L. Hunt ◽  
Chris D. F. Rogers

Successful transitioning to a circular economy city requires a holistic and inclusive approach that involves bringing together diverse actors and disciplines who may not have shared aims and objectives. It is desirable that stakeholders work together to create jointly-held perceptions of value, and yet cooperation in such an environment is likely to prove difficult in practice. The contribution of this paper is to show how collaboration can be engendered, or discord made transparent, in resource decision-making using a hybrid Game Theory approach that combines its inherent strengths with those of scenario analysis and multi-criteria decision analysis. Such a methodology consists of six steps: (1) define stakeholders and objectives; (2) construct future scenarios for Municipal Solid Waste Management; (3) survey stakeholders to rank the evaluation indicators; (4) determine the weights for the scenarios criteria; (5) reveal the preference order of the scenarios; and (6) analyse the preferences to reveal the cooperation and competitive opportunities. To demonstrate the workability of the method, a case study is presented: The Tyseley Energy Park, a major Energy-from-Waste facility that treats over two-thirds of the Municipal Solid Waste of Birmingham in the UK. The first phase of its decision-making involved working with the five most influential actors, resulting in recommendations on how to reach the most preferred and jointly chosen sustainable scenario for the site. The paper suggests a supporting decision-making tool so that cooperation is embedded in circular economy adoption and decisions are made optimally (as a collective) and are acceptable to all the stakeholders, although limited by bounded rationality.


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