Computer recycling model
to reduce waste
By Matt Poston
Staff
Writer
With increasing technology in some computer sectors
of industry, the number of consumers' computers that are becoming obsolete
are increasing on a daily basis.
With this increase comes an increase of old computers
and other electronics finding their way into local landfills and recycling
centers.
That is why Julie Ann Stuart, assistant professor
of Industrial Engineering, and Qin Lu, a graduate research assistant
at Ohio State University created a model that could become very important
to recycling centers in the near future.
"We noticed that currently most recyclers
either don't do reprocessing at all, or make the reprocessing decisions
based on instinct and experience," said Lu.
Currently, many recyclers remove raw materials
from the product and refine them, while sometimes computers are stripped
for parts.
Stuart said that the way the model works is that
it takes into account different types of parameters, such as operating
cost and material cost, and maximizes profit for the recycler.
"For example," said Stuart, "we
may try several different copper prices to identify how sensitive the
recycler's processes and the products received are to the price of copper
in determining a processing and reprocessing level."
Stuart said that implementation of the model in
recycling centers may still take awhile to implement.
"We have not yet developed a friendly user
interface for creating the data file," said Stuart. "However,
even with a friendly user interface for creating the data file, the
analysis of the results and the need to do multiple runs to check the
sensitivity of key parameters is best suited for an engineer or manager
with knowledge of discrete optimization techniques.
"Thus, it will most likely be useful to recyclers
and manufacturers considering recycling options if they work with a
professional with an industrial engineering or operations research background,"
Stuart said.
The inspiration for such a project came from discussions
and extensive touring with recycling centers not only all over the United
States, but also in England and The Netherlands, said Stuart. She also
added that the model was created while she was employed at Ohio State.
"It is important for recyclers to decide whether
or not to reprocess the mixed materials since more reprocessing can
generate higher value and higher purity materials, but consume more
processing capacity and energy," Lu said. "Therefore, we think
it is important to develop an analytical model to help recyclers to
make the reprocessing decisions wisely."
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