Hybrid simulation-based planning and evaluation framework for solid waste management and recycling systems

Over the past several decades, both the volume and diversity of municipal solid waste generated by the United States has risen significantly posing a substantial and growing threat to society. Consequently, solid waste management (SWM) has become a critical issue for numerous communities. The complexity of these management schemes is exacerbated by both the number of contractors and generation units in play, and the interdisciplinary nature of SWM systems, in which performance must be analyzed from economic, operational, environmental, and social perspectives. This complex environment presents numerous challenges to the study of the modular SWM system. All agents (governments, contractors, residents, etc.) bring unique objectives and constraints to the SWM system, which need to be considered simultaneously. Numerous uncertainties also pervade the SWM system, all of which must be quantified and simulated accurately. Therefore, a hybrid agent-discrete simulation framework is proposed in this study. This hybrid framework has been developed to facilitate both global and facility-specific performance monitoring and optimization, and prepared with sufficient generality to be applicable to the real system in any given region, based on standardized database items. The proposed framework has been successfully applied at county, region, and state levels in the State of Florida.