Expert Systems in Solid Waste Management

Abstract

Artificial intelligence, and expert systems in particular, are an exciting and relatively new application of computers. They provide new opportunities for harnessing the scarce and often scattered pieces of valuable knowledge and experience in solid waste management which at present is in the possession of the privileged few. While conventional algorithmic programming replaced much of the sophisticated and repetitive analytical work of the solid waste practitioner, expert systems are poised to take over the no-less important tasks of the ill-structured and less-deterministic parts of the planning, design and management processes. Endeavours in other branches of engineering to utilise this new computing technology indicate that solid waste expertise in various forms has a tremendous potential to be encoded successfully in expert systems. This state-of-the-art review presents a background of expert systems technology followed by guidelines to its successful implementation in the solid waste management domain.