A Static Optimization Model for Rain Gutters

Abstract

Recently, integrated analysis of resource and pollution issues has gained interest as it can assist in understanding environmental problems associated with resource extraction, generation and emission of waste, or combinations of these. This has resulted in attention for material flows through economic systems, in order to deal simultaneously with processes of extraction, production, consumption, substitution between materials and other factors of production, recycling of materials and products, and waste treatment or disposal. The concept of material balance (MB) is relevant in this context because it requires equality of the total inflow and total outflow of materials in production, consumption, or even entire economic systems, in the absence of accumulation of material in economic stocks, products or capital (see Section 2.4 of Chapter 2). There are many studies that describe material flows through the economy using models that formalize the MB-concept. Examples are Ayres and Kneese (1969), Kneese et al. (1970), Ayres (1978), Gilbert and Feenstra (1992), Van den Bergh and Nijkamp (1994), Starreveld and Van Ierland (1994), and Weaver et al. (1995). Most of these studies focus on the flow of one or more specific materials and do not explicitly consider the link between the material flow and economic behaviour, processes and products. As with the study on the optimal recycling of plastics of Starreveld and Van Ierland (1994), here a static optimization model including the material balance principle is presented. This model optimizes the costs for the demand for a service which includes, besides the recycling of several materials, also demand and production functions.

This chapter is a slightly revised version of an article that appeared in Environmental and Resource Economics (Kandelaars and Van den Bergh, 1996a).