Modem understanding about waste management has provided a general hierarchy to deal with waste, with a priority in the reduction or minimisation of the amount of waste generated. Different methodologies have been devised to aid the process of implementing waste minimisation in the process industries. However, waste minimisation methodologies are still underestimated or disregarded due to several misconceptions about their applicability. One reason believed to cause this is the lack of an accurate way to identify suitable waste reduction techniques. This arises from a mismatch between the existing methodologies and the information available at the time of the study. An appropriate approach to overcome this situation must consider a more efficient manipulation and analysis of the available information, optimising the cost and time required to obtain the critical missing data. The structured organisation of the knowledge about a process regarding its description, environmental concerns and available resources provides an effective way to identify the areas which need attention for the purpose of waste minimisation and facilitates the definition of activities that have to be performed to implement the devised solutions. The approach presented in this contribution considers the use of knowledge management tools to support the assessment of information required for a reliable waste minimisation study. The study presents a methodological framework based on knowledge management principles aimed to support the generation and implementation of waste minimisation strategies. This consists of a methodology that includes a collection of information management tools to support generation and evaluation of waste minimisation options in process industries. The overall framework is based on ontological principles that enable a more structured and targeted management of information (e.g. collection, generation, use, reuse or storage). The information is classified in four different domains embedded in a knowledge management structure: process description, environmental requirements, available documentation and waste minimisation methodologies. The approach enables the classification and retrieval of available information in a more efficient way, providing a more structured framework to support the identification and development of waste minimisation strategies. The research project provides a platform to successfully introduce knowledge management for the efficient implementation of waste minimisation strategies. The provided framework facilitates the gathering of information required to represent the process towards the goal of waste minimisation
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:508542 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Creators | Cordoba, Adriana Paola Reyes |
| Publisher | University of Manchester |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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