Using Dynamic Optimization for Integrated Environmental Management: An Application to Solvent Waste Disposal

Abstract

The choice of disposal strategy for a residuals stream often determines the environmental medium into which the pollution is released. In turn, choice of medium may influence both the kinds of adverse effects that the pollution will have and the timing of those effects as well. As an illustration of the way in which these factors may be taken into account in integrated environmental management, this paper demonstrates the application of a dynamic optimization model to the problem of allocating a pollutant between two different disposal methods. The alternatives examined are incineration and land disposal for metal-bearing solvent waste.