Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 176-181).

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 77-82).

Thesis (M.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 63-64). Also available in print.

Thesis (M.P.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 124-126). Also available in print.

This dissertation puts in place a risk-cost-benefit analysis for waste management facilities that explicitly recognizes the adversarial relationship that exists in a regulated market economy between the owner-operator of the facility and the government regulatory agency under whose terms the facility must be licensed. The risk-cost-benefit analysis is set up from the perspective of the owner-operator. It can be used directly by the owner-operator to assess alternative design strategies. It can also be used by the regulatory agency to assess alternative regulatory policies, but only in an indirect manner, by examining the response of an owner-operator to the stimuli of various policies. The objective function is written in terms of a discounted stream of benefits, costs, and risks over an engineering time horizon. Benefits are in terms of revenues for services provided; costs are those of construction and operation of the facility. Risk is defined as the expected cost associated with failure, with failure defined as a groundwater contamination event that violates the licensing requirements set forth by the regulatory agency. Failure requires a breach of the containment structure and contaminant migration through the hydrogeological environment to a compliance surface. Reliability theory is used to estimate the probability of breaching and Monte Carlo finite-element simulations are used to simulate advective contaminant transport. The hydraulic conductivity values in the hydrogeological environment are defined stochastically. The probability of failure is reduced by the presence of a monitoring network established by the owner-operator. The level of reduction in the probability of failure can be calculated from the stochastic contaminant transport simulations. While the framework is quite general, the development in this dissertation is specifically suited for a landfill in which the primary design feature is one or more synthetic liners and in which contamination is brought about by the release of a single, nonreactive species in an advective, steady-state, horizontal flow field. The risk cost benefit analysis is applied to 1) an assessment of the relative worth of alternative containment-construction activities, site-investigation activities, and monitoring activities available to the owner-operator, 2) an assessment of alternative policy options available to the regulatory agency, and 3) two case histories. Sensitivity analyses designed to address the first issue show that the allocation of resources by the owner-operator is sensitive to the stochastic parameters that describe the hydraulic conductivity field at a site. For the cases analyzed, the installation of a dense monitoring network is of less value to the owner-operator than a more conservative containment design. Sensitivity analyses designed to address the second issue suggest that from a regulatory perspective, design standards should be more effective than performance standards in reducing risk, and design specifications on the containment structure should be more effective than those on the monitoring network. Performance bonds posted before construction have a greater potential to influence design than prospective penalties to be imposed at the time of failure. Sitting on low-conductivity deposits is a more effective method of risk reduction than any form of regulatory influence. Results of the case histories indicate that the methodology can be successfully applied at field sites, and that the risks associated with groundwater contamination may be small when compared to the owner-operators' benefits and costs. / Science, Faculty of / Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of / Graduate

Waste Strategy 2000 (Waste Strategy for England and Wales) as well as the Waste Strategy for England 2007 laid out a fairly conservative agenda for the future of waste management in England as it responded to the developing EU Legislative drive for sustainable practice. A careful analysis of the Strategy, in around 2001, whereby likely future delivery was compared to EU requirements revealed that the UK (being disaggregated into 4 separate strategies) was unlikely to meet targets, in particular the Landfill Directive. The production of the Strategy Unit report Waste Not Want Not (2002) signalled up the requirement for a rapid increase in the rate of adoption of more sustainable practice. The result was the formation of the Waste Implementation Programme (WIP) in Defra, with its initial 8 streams of activity, including waste minimisation / prevention and pro-environmental behaviour. This research agenda approaches the topic from considering the requirements of a Regional Waste Management Strategy and in particular the knowledge requirements of a Regional Technology Advisory Board (RTAB) in developing waste strategy for the East Midlands. Firstly, starting with an extensive literature review to ascertain current practice, and based on rigorous methods and methodology the research investigated household waste prevention activities and developed techniques to measure impacts of individual and aggregated waste prevention. This research revealed a significant drop in the volume of waste arisings in a pilot area, indicating that it is possible to reduce household waste with a well designed campaign. Secondly, to support the research, Q methodology was used to identify issues of concern for designing waste prevention campaigns. Thirdly, a case study of Northamptonshire to identify potential suitable areas for siting of waste management facilities, using GIS tools, so as to identify possible target areas for future public information campaigns was developed.

published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning