Dual-Interval Fuzzy Stochastic Programming Method for Long-Term Planning of Municipal Solid Waste Management

Abstract

In many real-world problems, quality of the available information is generally poor and uncertainties presented as multiple formats may exist in various system components. In this study, a dual-interval fuzzy stochastic programming (DIFSP) method is developed for tackling uncertainties presented as dual intervals and random variables within a multistage context. The developed method is applied to a case study of long-term planning of a municipal solid waste-management system. It has been demonstrated that DIFSP has advantages in addressing the dynamic, interactive, and uncertain characteristics. Moreover, it can reflect dynamics in terms of both waste-flow allocation and facility-capacity expansion through constructing a multilayer scenario tree. With the aid of an interactive algorithm woven with a vertex analysis, solutions for waste-flow allocation and facility-capacity expansion under various uncertainty levels in decision making may be illuminated in support of solid waste-management system planning in urban regions. They can help decision makers to identify desired waste-management policies with minimized system cost and maximized environmental efficiency.