Hazardous Waste Disposal: A Waste-Fuel Blending Approach

The disposal of hazardous wastes creates major economic and environmental problems for both developed and developing nations. One productive use of hazardous wastes is to blend them into fuel, which mitigates damage to the environment by recycling waste into fuel and reducing fossil-fuel consumption. Operations personnel face a daunting task of efficiently blending hazardous waste into fuel, while at the same time maintaining environmental regulatory requirements. This research develops a goal-programming approach to the waste-fuel-blending process that considers the diverse objectives of fuel managers. A real-world case study at a cement kiln illustrates the effectiveness of this approach, where the implementation followed principles of team building and quality management.