Fuzzy Cognitive Maps and Bacterial Evolutionary Algorithm Approach to Integrated Waste Management Systems

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 538-548
Author(s):  
Adrienn Buruzs ◽  
◽  
Miklós Ferenc Hatwágner ◽  
László Tamás Kóczy ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Waste Management ◽  
Evolutionary Algorithm ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Cognitive Maps ◽  
Fuzzy Cognitive Maps ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Sustainable Waste Management ◽  
Integrated Waste Management ◽  
Combination Of Methods

Sustainable waste management systems necessarily include many interacting factors. Due to the complexity and uncertainties occurring in sustainable waste management systems, we propose the use of Fuzzy Cognitive Maps (FCM) and Bacterial Evolutionary Algorithm (BEA) [1] to support the planning and decision making process of integrated systems, as the combination of methods FCM and BEA seems to be suitable to model such complex mechanisms as Integrated Waste Management Systems (IWMS). This paper is an attempt to assess the sustainability of the IWMS in a holistic approach. While the FCM model represents the IWMS as a whole, the BEA is used for parameter optimization and identification. An interpretation of the results obtained by the FCM for the actual regional IWMS is also presented. We have obtained some surprising results, contradicting the general assumptions in the literature concerning the relative importance of constituting components in waste management systems.

scholarly journals Identification and Selection of Alternative Scenarios in LCA Studies of Integrated Waste Management Systems: A Review of Main Issues and Perspectives

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (10) ◽  
pp. 2430-2442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentino Tascione ◽  
Andrea Raggi
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Decision Support Tool ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Support Tool ◽  
Integrated Waste Management ◽  
Alternative Scenarios ◽  
Environmentally Sound ◽  
Definition Of

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a decision support tool that can be used to assess the environmental performance of an integrated waste management system or to identify the system with the best performance through a comparative analysis of different scenarios. The results of the analysis depend primarily on how the scenarios to be compared are defined, that is on which waste fractions are assumed to be sent to certain treatments/destinations and in what amounts. This paper reviews LCAs of integrated waste management systems with the aim of exploring how the scenarios to be compared are defined in the preliminary phase of an LCA. This critical review highlighted that various criteria, more or less subjective, are generally used for the definition of scenarios. Furthermore, the number of scenarios identified and compared is generally limited; this may entail that only the best option among a limited set of possibilities can be selected, instead of identifying the best of all possible combinations. As a result, the advisability of identifying an integrated life cycle-based methodological approach that allows finding the most environmentally sound scenario among all of those that are theoretically possible is stressed.

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