An integrated approach for the selection of Best Available Techniques (BAT) for the industries in the greater Athens area using multi-objective combinatorial optimization

Recognizing that the industrial sector is one of the major sources of environmental impacts, there is a strong effort towards “cleaner” production. In this context, the European Union strongly encourages the adaptation of Best Available Techniques (BATs) which practically constitute recommended techniques for each one of the steps in the manufacturing process (Directive 96/61 EC). In the current case study, we examine the industrial sector of the greater Athens area under the prism of BATs introduction. The aim of the analysis is to find the mixture of BATs for the entire industrial sector that satisfies as much as possible the economic criteria (expressed by the Net Present Value of the projects) and the environmental criteria (quantified by the emission reduction in major pollutants). The obtained multi-objective optimization problem is addressed using two methods: (1) goal programming and (2) generation of the Pareto optimal solutions using the ε-constraint method, followed by an interactive filtering procedure in order to select the most preferred Pareto optimal solution (BAT mixture). The computational tool for implementing these methods is also described and the results from the application in the industrial sector of the greater Athens area are presented.