Selection of recycling centre locations by using the interval type-2 fuzzy sets and two-objective genetic algorithm

Abstract

In the sense of contemporary industrial challenges, it may be said that many issues in the field of recycling may be analysed. In this paper, the model for choosing locations for construction of recycling centres equipped with new technology is proposed. The considered problem may be stated as a two-objective optimization problem, if the optimization criteria are presented as total distance and the overall suitability index sum. The relative importance and values of possible locations’ attributes are described by pre-defined linguistic expressions, and modelled by interval triangular type-2 fuzzy numbers. Type-2 fuzzy numbers provide a possibility to incorporate the uncertainty of membership functions into the fuzzy set theory. The procedure for determination of the overall suitability index is proposed. Selection of the most appropriate locations is achieved by a two-objective genetic algorithm, since it is very suitable for the routing issues. The proposed model application is illustrated with the real-life data that come from a few regions in Serbia.