Sustainable urban solid waste management planning with the use of an advanced interactive decision support system based on the PROMETHEE II method

Abstract

The fulfilment of the targets set by the European policy for sustainable waste management, imposes to the involved actors various difficulties, not only due to the inefficiencies of the existing infrastructure, but also due to the necessity for consideration of public involvement and social aspects. To assist the involved actors in planning an optimal municipal solid waste management scheme, an innovative decision support system has been developed, focusing in the Balkan Region countries. The system integrates an automated process, to assist in the formulation of alternative waste management scenarios with material flow analysis for their evaluation, and a PROMETHEE II-based multi-criteria analysis to assist in the selection of the scenario that best satisfies the preferences of the involved actors. This paper presents the structure and functionality of the decision support system, as well as an application of the system to a real case study concerning the region of Attiki, Greece.