Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
and transshipment rates. In order to see if an al-
ternative waste management solution is desirable
in a technical sense, the company should verify
if the technical requirements, impediments and
competing technologies are identified. By evalu-
ating current technology options and limitations,
the company can define how difficult it will be
to build the new system. For some alternative
waste management solutions, there may be critical
elements that require feasibility demonstration.
Therefore the company may require making tests
and experiments in order to see if the considered
alternative waste management solution is tech-
nically feasible. By this way, the performance
of experiments and tests can be compared with
preliminary technical requirements and objectives.
The experiments and tests will enable the presen-
tation of a path forward for the next stage of the
alternative. Moreover, written results, models, or
laboratory process outputs demonstrating techni-
cal concepts and benefits will improve confidence
that the alternative waste management solution
will successfully meet the goals of the company.
Economical Analysis of Alternative Waste
Management Solutions:
If an alternative waste
management solution is operationally and tech-
nically feasible, then the economical analysis of
the alternative should be carried out to examine
if it is affordable or not. The economical viability
generally consists of measures such as the quan-
titative estimation of benefits of an alternative
waste management solution, which are typically
reduction in costs or risks. An alternative waste
management solution that is economically desir-
able is regarded as justified because the economic
aspects are generally the bottom line of many
projects. In the economical analysis phase, the
costs, benefits and incomes of the current system
should also be identified. By this way, it will be
possible to compare the economic aspects of the
current system and the suggested alternative waste
management solution. This will allow realizing
the cost of not developing the new system. In
solution is desirable from an economical point of
view, the cost-benefit analysis should be made and
the cost-effectiveness of the alternative should be
proved. By this analysis, it will be demonstrated
if the benefits outweigh the estimated costs of
development, installation, operation and main-
tenance. When making an economical analysis,
it is important to predict tangible and intangible
benefits. Furthermore, the timing of costs and
benefits is an important factor determining the
payback period, which is also an important deci-
sion criterion affecting the applicability of an
alternative waste management solution.
Comparison of Alternative
Waste Management Solutions
As it is known from operations research, optimiz-
ing a variable may not always give the overall
optimal solution, especially when several aspects
such as productivity and environmental perfor-
mance are both aimed (Nahmias, 2004, p. 671).
Therefore, the consequences of the alternative
waste management solutions and their effects on
the overall performance should be discussed. If an
alternative waste management solution is found to
be feasible, the company may decide to proceed
with this solution after comparing it with other
alternatives generated for the considered problem.
In selecting the best alternative, a company often
considers trade-offs. The final decision can be
determined by working with end-users, reviewing
operational, technical and economic data. On the
other hand, decisions criteria such as dependabil-
ity, efficiency, flexibility and quality may be used
for creating an environmental operations strategy.
Therefore, if a company aims to accomplish an
environmentally integrated manufacturing system
analysis, a multi-disciplinary team should be
formed and operational, technical and economic
aspects should be compared for each alternative
waste management solution by taking account the
criteria mentioned above. It is also essential that the
