Waste-to-Resource value chain optimisation: Combining spatial, chemical and technoeconomic aspects

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Waste Management
• Operations Research

Background:

• Organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) and wastewater (WW) are nutrient- and carbon-rich resources often treated as waste.
• Current waste management practices do not fully exploit the resource recovery potential of OFMSW and WW.
• A transformation towards proactive resource recovery in waste value chains is necessary.

Purpose of the Study:

• To optimize the waste supply chain for recovering value-added products from OFMSW.
• To develop and demonstrate a systems-modeling approach for designing waste-to-resource value chains.
• To inform the strategic placement and design of new waste recovery facilities.

Main Methods:

• Integration of spatial data analysis, mathematical mixed integer linear programming (MILP) optimization, and technology performance evaluation.
• Geographic Information System (GIS)-based analysis for identifying potential sites for new waste recovery facilities, considering transportation and logistics.
• Incorporation of variations in OFMSW quantity and composition, and analysis of over 600 existing anaerobic digestion (AD) plants in the UK.

Main Results:

• Identification of optimal technology types, facility sizes, and locations for waste recovery.
• Analysis of logistical connections and transportation networks for efficient OFMSW processing.
• Demonstration of the approach's efficacy through a UK-based case study on OFMSW.

Conclusions:

• The proposed systems-modeling approach effectively informs the design of waste-to-resource value chains.
• Considering the lifetime value of resource recovery potential is crucial for facility design (e.g., anaerobic digestion or thermochemical treatment).
• This approach offers a promising strategy to overcome challenges in the waste-to-resource transformation.