SYSTEMS ENGINEERING LOOKS AT AB939, THE CALIFORNIA INTEGRATED WASTE MANAGEMENT ACT OF 1989

Abstract

AbstractIn 1988, Californians produced and disposed of 38 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW). This equates to 2500 pounds per year per person, more than any other state in the union and more than twice that of most other industrial countries. Because ninety percent of this waste was landfilled and with most landfills closing in the mid 1990s, as well as threatening ground water with contamination, the State Legislature enacted AB939. The goal of this legislation is to “reduce, recycle and reuse to the maximum extent feasible” the municipal waste generated in the State; it requires that 50% of MSW be recycled by the year 2000 rather than to “transform” the waste to energy. We estimate that at least 50% of MSW consists of mixed organic material that is only usable as fuel for energy, consequently local governments may not be able to meet the mandate of AB939. In addition, AB939 improves the regulation of landfills and assigns local governments responsibility for integrated waste management. In a previous paper, one of the authors explored the concept of adopting MIL‐STD‐499B to resource and environmental management; AB939 fits very well into that concept. However, AB939 has serious limitations in defining an engineering process for implementing its functional requirements.In this paper we examine the mission‐goals and top‐level requirements imposed upon local governments (LG) by AB939. Moreover, to minimize the amount of MSW for disposal, increase the longevity of landfills, and maximize the return to the nation's economy, SE analysis may show these functional requirements to have priorities different from those set forth in AB939. We shall outline the Systems Engineering (SE) methodology that LG might follow in developing a solid waste management system for implementing the goals of AB939. We shall illustrate the SE process by examining how anaerobic digestion of solid waste would integrate into a program for managing it and address the overall goals set forth in AB939.