A win-win situation for environment and economy: Analysis of maximizing benefits in municipal sludge treatment plants

Abstract

The huge cost (economic cost and environmental cost) of treating municipal sludge has caused enormous pressure on China. How to balance economic cost and environmental benefits in China's sludge treatment industry is an important issue that the government urgently needs to address. This article selects 9 types of municipal sludge treatment plants (MSTP) that can represent different treatment methods and scales in China, and attempts to help all provinces in China find the optimal solution for maximizing sludge treatment benefits (economic benefits and environmental benefits) under different constraints (economic constraints and environmental constraints). Firstly, this paper analyzes the economic and environmental costs and return of 9 types of MSTP. Secondly, we use the unguided Super-SBM model to combine the costs and return of 9 types of MSTP to measure the benefits of each plant. It has been found that under ideal conditions, medium Incineration treatment (IT) and large building material (BM) utilization are the most beneficial options for sludge treatment in China. Finally, we use a simple linear programming model to establish a constrained linear programming model for the environment and economy, substituting provinces that are divided into four categories under different constraint conditions into the model, and finding the optimal ratio for each type of province to build MSTP, in order to maximize benefits. Research has found that after adding constraints, the future development trend of municipal sludge treatment in China will mainly focus on small BM utilization and medium LA. This research result has universal applicability. As long as the constraints of this article are met, any country or province can adjust the construction proportion of municipal sludge treatment plants according to the research results of this article.