RECYCLE: a Computerized Planning Tool to Improve Municipal Solid Waste Management1
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Ohio J. Science AMMONIUM PRODUCTION BY B1P0LARIS MAYDIS 189 RECYCLE: A Computerized Planning Tool to Improve Municipal Solid Waste Management1 W. B. CLAPHAM, JR., Department of Geological Sciences, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH 44115 ABSTRACT. RECYCLE is a simulation model designed to assist municipal decision-makers in beginning the planning process to determine what options in municipal recycling are appropriate for their communities. Its structure can be adapted to the vast array of municipal solid waste handling systems found around the country. It simulates a large number of options suitable for each type of municipal system and chooses the ones most appropriate for community officials to examine in greater detail. It reflects the kinds of questions addressed in municipal solid waste management and is also appropriate for communities picking up their own refuse, contracting with specific private trash haulers, and having strictly private trash pickup. Model runs have already influenced the structure of recycling programs in northeast Ohio, and the model has generated interest in several other areas. OHIOJ. SCI. 86(4): 189-199, 1986 INTRODUCTION by planners normally inclined to distrust computer an- Solid waste management is one of the largest items in alyses. It can also provide sufficiently accurate informa- a municipal budget. An American family discards over tion to be useful as a point of departure for detailed two tons of refuse each year; a typical city of 50,000 can planning. expect to spend on the order of $2.5 million annually to STRUCTURE OF RECYCLE' pick up, haul, and dispose of this refuse (Cuyahoga County Regional Planning Commission 1980). About The model is summarized mathematically in the ap- 20-25% of this refuse is potentially recyclable (Table 1), pendix. It consists of several blocks that perform four indicating a significant possible savings for communities functions sequentially (Fig. 1). The first "describes" the that undertake serious recycling programs (Office of Solid MSW system of the community. It works interactively Wastes 1977). But every community is different. Recy- with the user to gain information about the site-specific cling has so many site-specific aspects that it is never features of the city and then avails itself of other data obvious a priori what kind of program is most appropriate needed to describe MSW management in more general for a particular city. Thus, a community will seldom be terms. Finally, it characterizes the potentially recyclable able to adopt a program identical to one that has worked components of the MSW stream. for a neighbor (Clapham 1983). In addition, some of the The second block examines 24 different options most important factors that enter municipal decision- in which the primary responsibility for recycling rests making are "soft" variables like municipal image, nature on the shoulders of the householder. Twelve of these of work rules with the service workers' union, personal are dropoff-donation centers (i.e., what are generally preferences of the municipal government, and so on. RECYCLE is a generalized tool that clarifies the poten- TABLE 1 tial roles for recycling in municipal solid waste (MSW) Makeup of typical municipal solid waste management programs and facilitates the early stages of (MSW) in the United States, 1971-1975 the planning process. It allows planners to consider a vast range of potential options for recycling without over- Ease of recycling whelming them with vast amounts of information that Commodity Percentage inMSW from MSW they do not need to know about options which are in- feasible for the community. It provides a rapid, efficient Paper 34.6- 43.0 High mechanism for considering a broad range of possible op- Glass 12.0- 13.3 High Ferrous Metals 10.2 - 10.8 High tions in the context of individual communities and for Aluminum 0.8- 1.0 High identifying a tractable number of feasible alternatives for Other Metals 0.4 — Low further and detailed consideration. It is a fairly simple Plastics 4.2- 4.6 Low model whose assumptions and calculations can be verified Rubber and Leather 3.3- 3.8 Low Textiles 1.7 - 2.1 Low Wood 4.5- 4.9 Low 'Manuscript received 25 November 1986 and in revised form Food Wastes 20.8- 22.7 Nil 20 June 1986 (#85-57). 190 W. B. CLAPHAM, JR. Vol. 86 INPUT BLOCK Input Community Data Start Read Data Files End: RANKING BLOCK Display of Best Options Pick Out Best Options Summary Report Save Summary Data Tonnage of Potentially Recyclable Wastes CENTERS BLOCK For Each Option: Tonnages Recycled Describe Operations of: Labor, Capital, & Space Needs * 12 Dropoff Centers Net Savings * 12 Buyback Centers PICKUP BLOCK For Each Option: Describe Operations of: Tonnages Recycled * 16 Curbside Collection Programs Labor, Capital, & Space Needs * 16 Pickup + Int. Processing Programs Net Savings * 8 Licensee Pickup Programs FIGURE 1. Simplified flow chart showing functions of blocks within the recycling computer model. termed "recycling centers"); the other 12 are buyback final step, the input block calculates the tonnage of the centers in which recyclable materials are purchased from easily recyclable commodities. householders. BLOCK II: CENTERS. The "centers" block analyzes The third block considers 40 different configurations 24 typical options available at recycling or buyback of pickup programs in which primary responsibility re- mains with the city, and recycling is integrated into the TABLE 2 solid waste management program of the city. Sixteen Questions asked by the interactive section of RECYCLE involve simplified municipal pickup, in which the mu- nicipality collects the recyclables and sells them. Sixteen 1. How many residents live in your municipality? involve some "intermediate processing", in which the 2. What is the community's educational level? municipality collects the materials and processes them to 3. How many households do you collect refuse from? 4. How many households are not collected (e.g. apartments)? some degree prior to sale to increase the sale value of the 5. How many tons of Municipal Solid Waste do you collect recyclable materials. The last eight options explore the annually? implications of the arrangement of a city with a non- 6. How many miles of city streets does your city have? profit licensee to collect recyclables independently of rou- 7. How many daily routes does your city have for garbage pickup? 8. What size crew do you use in garbage trucks in your muni- tine municipal pickup. cipality? The final block ranks the different options on the basis 9. What size garbage trucks, in cubic yards, do you use? of the "bottom line," or net savings to the community, 10. Are your garbage truck crews paid by the hour or by the route? and picks from each of the five basic categories two that 11. Are there streets in your city along which garbage trucks must promise the greatest net savings to the community, and routinely back up or turn around in extremely restricted areas? 12. Do you use standard rear-loading garbage trucks? that are most likely to be suitable for further consid- 13. What is the composition of your municipal solid waste? eration. Results presented to the user include net savings 14. What market prices are available for your recyclable from adopting a recycling program, as well as the consti- commodities? tutent costs and credits which make up this net saving. 15. What is the typical HOURLY wage of your service workers? 16. How many hours per week does a typical service worker work? It then stores the basic data for all 64 options in a refer- 17. Do you have a transfer station for municipal solid wastes? ence file and prepares a summary report of 15 to 17 pages 18. What is the average cost per ton of municipal solid waste pickup containing the implications of each of the options in and transport to your transfer station, if you have one, or directly language that a municipal decision-maker can under- to your landfill, if you do not have a transfer station? stand and work with. 19- What is the average cost per ton of hauling minicipal solid wastes from your transfer station (if you have one) to your landfill? BLOCK I: INPUT. The input block initializes the 20. What is the average tipping fee per ton for your refuse. model. It allows city-specific data to be entered into the 21. Do you believe that you will be able to get facilities to store model, enables the user to change certain numerical data recyclables in your recycling program free, either by donation or so that they are more appropriate for his or her com- by agreement with your market? These include Gaylords, dump- sters, roll-off containers, etc. munity, and reads in basic parameters. After initializing 22. Do you believe that you will be able to obtain free basic process- the model, it displays the assumptions used during the ing machinery to handle recyclables in a recycling center, either model run, while the calculations and sorting operations by donation or by agreement with your market? are being performed. 23. Do you believe that you will be able to get free space to locate The block begins with an interactive section in which a recycling or buyback center? 24. Do you believe that you will be able to get free space to locate the computer asks the user for the community-specific the storage and transfer facilities needed for a curbside pickup information that adapts the structure of the model to program? local circumstances. The questions asked by the model 25. Do you believe that you will be able to get free space for trucks are summarized in Table 2. More details on the informa- or trailers needed for certain options involving curbside pickup? These would likely be at your service center or transfer station.