Fuzzy set approach to routing and siting hazardous waste operations

Abstract

This paper presents a mathematical model for optimally siting and routing hazardous waste operations conditioned on public perception toward acceptable costs and risks. The routing and siting of hazardous waste operations is governed as much by the public's perception of acceptable cost and risk as by any other factor. These perceptions are integrated into the model through the use of fuzzy sets that represent the public's degree of acceptance toward unique policy options. Perceived risk is used to help determine a policy's acceptability. Model solutions define a trade-off relationship between cost, risk, and the perception that the policy is acceptable. Initially, linear fuzzy membership functions for acceptable cost and risk are used to demonstrate the efficacy of this approach. Following the linear formulation, more realistic and computationally complex nonlinear membership functions are incorporated into the model. To illustrate the models, a case study that considers the current effort by North Carolina to site a hazardous waste incinerator is presented.