Biomedical subjects

B W Baetz

Publications and source records attributed to B W Baetz.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2002

Violation analysis for solid waste management systems: an interval fuzzy programming approach.

This paper introduces a violation analysis approach for the planning of regional solid waste management systems under uncertainty, based on an interval-parameter fuzzy integer programming (IPFIP) model. In this approach, several given levels of tolerable violation for system constraints are permitted. This is realized through a relaxation of the critical constraints using violation variables, such that the model's decision space can be expanded. Thus, solutions from the violation analysis will not necessarily satisfy all of the model's original constraints. Application of the developed methodology to the planning of a waste management system indicates that reasonable solutions can be generated through this approach. Considerable information regarding decisions of facility expansion and waste flow allocation within the waste management system were generated. The modeling results help to generate a number of decision alternatives under various system conditions, allowing for more in-depth analyses of tradeoffs between environmental and economic objectives as well as those between system optimality and reliability.

Fuzzy Logic↗

PubMed1990

Parenteral packaging waste reduction.

The consumption of pharmaceutical products generates waste materials which can cause significant environmental impact when incinerated or landfilled. The purpose of this work is to stimulate discussion among hospital pharmacists and purchasing managers relating to the waste management aspects of their purchasing decisions. As a case study example, a number of commercially available "single use" parenterals are evaluated from a waste reduction perspective, for both the product container and for the packaging of these containers. Glass vials are non-incinerable, and are currently non-recyclable due to the higher melting temperatures required for borosilicate glass. However, plastic vials are potentially both incinerable and recyclable. Packaging quantities are considerably lower for plastic vials on a unit container basis, and also vary to a measurable degree between different manufacturers for a given type of container material. From an environmental perspective, waste reduction potential should become an important criterion in the selection of pharmaceutical products for hospital use.

Drug Packaging↗