Data reconciliation, structure analysis and simulation of waste flows: case study Vienna.

Abstract

The management of complex waste flow systems requires a systematic approach for the handling of data, for obtaining a consistent picture of the system under consideration, and for simulating various policy scenarios and evaluating material control strategies. In this paper the implementation of a useful methodology is presented, which has been developed in previous works and is further enhanced for modelling, identifying, analysing and simulating material flow systems for which at most one measurement per flow is available for a single balancing period. The methodology enables the analyst to cope with missing data and uncertainty in the measurements. A data reconciliation procedure is used to minimise the uncertainty concerning flows by exploiting the redundancies created by restricting the available data to fulfil the available structural information. Statistical tests are introduced to enable the user to check the compatibility of the data with the a priori information. The origins analysis and destination analysis tools allow for a deeper insight into the system structure. Policy scenarios can be treated using the simulation tools. The waste flow system of the city of Vienna has been chosen to demonstrate step-by-step the procedure for building a reliable model and the effective application of the above mentioned methods and tools. Current and future research focuses on models balancing different interrelated quantities simultaneously and on incorporating stock accumulation and depletion behaviour.