Fuzzy multi-criteria decision analysis for environmentally conscious solid waste treatment and disposal technology selection

Abstract

Municipal solid waste management (MSWM) is a major challenge for developing countries due to an enormous and rapid increase in waste generation rates, environmental issues and financial constraints for proper management. Poorly managed municipal solid waste (MSW) causes severe detrimental consequences to society like financial and aesthetic degradation, contamination of natural resources, environmental pollution and is a serious health hazard. The selection of appropriate MSW treatment and disposal technology is a multi-criteria decision-making process. This paper presents an evaluation method that can aid decision-makers to prioritise and select appropriate MSW treatment and disposal methods even under uncertain conditions. It adopts a systematic three-stage evaluation method. The first stage utilizes the Fuzzy Delphi method to obtain the critical factors for the evaluation of technology alternatives. In the second stage, the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process is applied to obtain the weights and importance degree of each criterion as the measurable indices of the technologies by fuzzy pairwise comparison matrices. Finally, the Fuzzy TOPSIS technique is used for the selection of appropriate treatment and disposal technology alternative. The applicability of the proposed approach is demonstrated with an illustrative example and the results are analyzed. The fuzzy multiple-criteria approach applied in the study accommodates both quantitative and qualitative data, and thus, makes the uncertain decision-making process more objective and analytical. The study highlights the importance of ‘‘appropriate scale” and how the priority order of technologies changes under various domains of experts. The results reveal that the developed model can successfully help the decision-makers to determine the priority sequence of the MSW treatment and disposal scenarios taking into account the interest of relevant stakeholders. In view of the real-world scenario, it is proven to be efficient, practical, and case-independent for effectively managing MSW and supporting the existing MSWM systems in both developed and developing countries.