Assessment of health-care waste disposal methods using a VIKOR-based fuzzy multi-criteria decision making method

Nowadays selection of the appropriate treatment method in health-care waste (HCW) management has become a challenge task for the municipal authorities especially in developing countries. Assessment of HCW disposal alternatives can be regarded as a complicated multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) problem which requires consideration of multiple alternative solutions and conflicting tangible and intangible criteria. The objective of this paper is to present a new MCDM technique based on fuzzy set theory and VIKOR method for evaluating HCW disposal methods. Linguistic variables are used by decision makers to assess the ratings and weights for the established criteria. The ordered weighted averaging (OWA) operator is utilized to aggregate individual opinions of decision makers into a group assessment. The computational procedure of the proposed framework is illustrated through a case study in Shanghai, one of the largest cities of China. The HCW treatment alternatives considered in this study include “incineration”, “steam sterilization”, “microwave” and “landfill”. The results obtained using the proposed approach are analyzed in a comparative way.     

Making the CERCLA Criteria Analysis of Remedial Alternatives More Objective

This article shows how decision analysis techniques assisted decision makers in the critical RI/FS task of technology selection at a specific Superfund site. Each remediation alternative's performance was quantified by creating a set of objective evaluation measures tied to the criteria mandated in the comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980. The evaluation measure scores were input into a quantitative decision analysis model used to rank alternatives based on their performance relative to the CERCLA criteria, and to provide insight to the sensitivity of the results to changes in decision maker preferences or technology performance. The model is designed to reflect the site decision maker's preferences and the site-specific characteristics within the framework of the nine CERCLA criteria. This model will give Superfund site decision makers an objective and transparent framework to evaluate remedial technologies.     

Application of interval 2-tuple linguistic MULTIMOORA method for health-care waste treatment technology evaluation and selection

The management of health-care waste (HCW) is a major challenge for municipalities, particularly in the cities of developing countries. Selection of the best treatment technology for HCW can be viewed as a complicated multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) problem which requires consideration of a number of alternatives and conflicting evaluation criteria. Additionally, decision makers often use different linguistic term sets to express their assessments because of their different backgrounds and preferences, some of which may be imprecise, uncertain and incomplete. In response, this paper proposes a modified MULTIMOORA method based on interval 2-tuple linguistic variables (named ITL-MULTIMOORA) for evaluating and selecting HCW treatment technologies. In particular, both subjective and objective importance coefficients of criteria are taken into consideration in the developed approach in order to conduct a more effective analysis. Finally, an empirical case study in Shanghai, the most crowded metropolis of China, is presented to demonstrate the proposed method, and results show that the proposed ITL-MULTIMOORA can solve the HCW treatment technology selection problem effectively under uncertain and incomplete information environment.     

Minimax regret optimization analysis for a regional solid waste management system

Solid waste management (SWM) facilities are crucial for environmental management and public health in urban regions. Due to the waste management hierarchy, one of the greatest challenges that organizations face today is to figure out how to diversify the treatment options, increase the reliability of infrastructure systems, and leverage the redistribution of waste streams among incineration, compost, recycling, and other facilities to their competitive advantage region wide. Systems analysis plays an important role for regionalization assessment of integrated SWM systems, leading to provide decision makers with break-through insights and risk-informed strategies. This paper aims to apply a minimax regret optimization analysis for improving SWM strategies in the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV), an economically fast growing region in the US. Based on different environmental, economic, legal, and social conditions, event-based simulation in the first stage links estimated waste streams in major cities in LRGV with possible solid waste management alternatives. The optimization analysis in the second stage emphasizes the trade-offs and associated regret evaluation with respect to predetermined scenarios. Such optimization analyses with multiple criteria have featured notable successes, either by public or private efforts, in diverting recyclables, green waste, yard waste, and biosolids from the municipal solid waste streams to upcoming waste-to-energy, composting, and recycling facilities. Model outputs may link prescribed regret scenarios in decision making with various scales of regionalization policies. The insights drawn from the system-oriented, forward-looking, and preventative study can eventually help decision-makers and stakeholders gain a scientific understanding of the consequences of short-term and long-term decisions relating to sustainable SWM in the fast-growing US-Mexico borderland.     

An analytic network process model for municipal solid waste disposal options

The aim of this paper is to present an evaluation method that can aid decision makers in a local civic body to prioritize and select appropriate municipal solid waste disposal methods. We introduce a hierarchical network (hiernet) decision structure and apply the analytic network process (ANP) super-matrix approach to measure the relative desirability of disposal alternatives using value judgments as the input of the various stakeholders. ANP is a flexible analytical program that enables decision makers to find the best possible solution to complex problems by breaking down a problem into a systematic network of inter-relationships among the various levels and attributes. This method therefore may not only aid in selecting the best alternative but also helps decision makers to understand why an alternative is preferred over the other options.     

Optimal evaluation of infectious medical waste disposal companies using the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process

Ever since Taiwan’s National Health Insurance implemented the diagnosis-related groups payment system in January 2010, hospital income has declined. Therefore, to meet their medical waste disposal needs, hospitals seek suppliers that provide high-quality services at a low cost. The enactment of the Waste Disposal Act in 1974 had facilitated some improvement in the management of waste disposal. However, since the implementation of the National Health Insurance program, the amount of medical waste from disposable medical products has been increasing. Further, of all the hazardous waste types, the amount of infectious medical waste has increased at the fastest rate. This is because of the increase in the number of items considered as infectious waste by the Environmental Protection Administration. The present study used two important findings from previous studies to determine the critical evaluation criteria for selecting infectious medical waste disposal firms. It employed the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process to set the objective weights of the evaluation criteria and select the optimal infectious medical waste disposal firm through calculation and sorting. The aim was to propose a method of evaluation with which medical and health care institutions could objectively and systematically choose appropriate infectious medical waste disposal firms.     

A progress indicator-based assessment guide for integrated municipal solid-waste management systems

Managing municipal solid waste is a major concern for cities around the world. Particularly urban communities with developing economies are urged to improve their waste management practices, and set up appropriate waste management systems. Waste management is a city-specific topic; there is no ideal solution that can be operationalized everywhere. In developing cities, municipalities and decision makers need simple and effective indicators to assess the sustainability of their current waste management systems, and set a performance reference point. The current study investigates available literature and suggests a list of measurable sustainability indicators which are specific to solid-waste management. The list encompasses 27 indicators that cover the building blocks of an integrated solid-waste management system, i.e., collection and sorting, recycling, composting, energy recovery, and landfilling. An assessment tool is developed through a five-point Likert scale, evaluating these indicators. Case studies of Cairo and Brussels were analyzed. The outcomes of this analysis can be used as a benchmark on a local level in planning, clarifying policy objectives, and setting priorities.     

Application of multi-criteria decision-making on strategic municipal solid waste management in Dalmatia, Croatia

The efficiency of providing a waste management system in the coastal part of Croatia consisting of four Dalmatian counties has been modelled. Two multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods, PROMETHEE and GAIA, were applied to assist with the systematic analysis and evaluation of the alternatives. The analysis covered two levels; first, the potential number of waste management centres resulting from possible inter-county cooperation; and second, the relative merits of siting of waste management centres in the coastal or hinterland zone was evaluated. The problem was analysed according to several criteria; and ecological, economic, social and functional criteria sets were identified as relevant to the decision-making process. The PROMETHEE and GAIA methods were shown to be efficient tools for analysing the problem considered. Such an approach provided new insights to waste management planning at the strategic level, and gave a reason for rethinking some of the existing strategic waste management documents in Croatia.     

Integrating multi-criteria decision analysis for a GIS-based hazardous waste landfill sitting in Kurdistan Province, western Iran

The evaluation of a hazardous waste disposal site is a complicated process because it requires data from diverse social and environmental fields. These data often involve processing of a significant amount of spatial information which can be used by GIS as an important tool for land use suitability analysis. This paper presents a multi-criteria decision analysis alongside with a geospatial analysis for the selection of hazardous waste landfill sites in Kurdistan Province, western Iran. The study employs a two-stage analysis to provide a spatial decision support system for hazardous waste management in a typically under developed region. The purpose of GIS was to perform an initial screening process to eliminate unsuitable land followed by utilization of a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) to identify the most suitable sites using the information provided by the regional experts with reference to new chosen criteria. Using 21 exclusionary criteria, as input layers, masked maps were prepared. Creating various intermediate or analysis map layers a final overlay map was obtained representing areas for hazardous waste landfill sites. In order to evaluate different landfill sites produced by the overlaying a landfill suitability index system was developed representing cumulative effects of relative importance (weights) and suitability values of 14 non-exclusionary criteria including several criteria resulting from field observation. Using this suitability index 15 different sites were visited and based on the numerical evaluation provided by MCDA most suitable sites were determined.     

Multi-objective optimization of solid waste flows: environmentally sustainable strategies for municipalities

An approach to sustainable municipal solid waste (MSW) management is presented, with the aim of supporting the decision on the optimal flows of solid waste sent to landfill, recycling and different types of treatment plants, whose sizes are also decision variables. This problem is modeled with a non-linear, multi-objective formulation. Specifically, four objectives to be minimized have been taken into account, which are related to economic costs, unrecycled waste, sanitary landfill disposal and environmental impact (incinerator emissions). An interactive reference point procedure has been developed to support decision making; these methods are considered appropriate for multi-objective decision problems in environmental applications. In addition, interactive methods are generally preferred by decision makers as they can be directly involved in the various steps of the decision process. Some results deriving from the application of the proposed procedure are presented. The application of the procedure is exemplified by considering the interaction with two different decision makers who are assumed to be in charge of planning the MSW system in the municipality of Genova (Italy).     

Inexact fuzzy-stochastic constraint-softened programming – A case study for waste management

In this study, an inexact fuzzy-stochastic constraint-softened programming method is developed for municipal solid waste (MSW) management under uncertainty. The developed method can deal with multiple uncertainties presented in terms of fuzzy sets, interval values and random variables. Moreover, a number of violation levels for the system constraints are allowed. This is realized through introduction of violation variables to soften system constraints, such that the model’s decision space can be expanded under demanding conditions. This can help generate a range of decision alternatives under various conditions, allowing in-depth analyses of tradeoffs among economic objective, satisfaction degree, and constraint-violation risk. The developed method is applied to a case study of planning a MSW management system. The uncertain and dynamic information can be incorporated within a multi-layer scenario tree; revised decisions are permitted in each time period based on the realized values of uncertain events. Solutions associated with different satisfaction degree levels have been generated, corresponding to different constraint-violation risks. They are useful for supporting decisions of waste flow allocation and system-capacity expansion within a multistage context.     

Decision support models for solid waste management: Review and game-theoretic approaches

This paper surveys decision support models that are commonly used in the solid waste management area. Most models are mainly developed within three decision support frameworks, which are the life-cycle assessment, the cost–benefit analysis and the multi-criteria decision-making. These frameworks are reviewed and their strengths and weaknesses as well as their critical issues are analyzed, while their possible combinations and extensions are also discussed. Furthermore, the paper presents how cooperative and non-cooperative game-theoretic approaches can be used for the purpose of modeling and analyzing decision-making in situations with multiple stakeholders. Specifically, since a waste management model is sustainable when considering not only environmental and economic but also social aspects, the waste management bargaining game is introduced as a specific decision support framework in which future models can be developed.     

Waste management models and their application to sustainable waste management

The purpose of this paper is to review the types of models that are currently being used in the area of municipal waste management and to highlight some major shortcomings of these models. Most of the municipal waste models identified in the literature are decision support models and for the purposes of this research, are divided into three categories-those based on cost benefit analysis, those based on life cycle assessment and those based on multicriteria decision making. Shortcomings of current waste management models include that they are concerned with refinements of the evaluation steps (e.g. stage four of AHP or the improvement of weight allocations in ELECTRE) rather than addressing the decision making process itself. In addition, while many models recognise that for a waste management model to be sustainable, it must consider environmental, economic and social aspects, no model examined considered all three aspects together in the application of the model.     

Selection of palm oil mill effluent treatment for biogas generation or compost production using an analytic hierarchy process

Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is the liquid waste from palm oil mills, and is generally treated using open lagoon technology. However, open lagoons can also be combined with more environmentally friendly technologies. In this study, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was used to determine the best combination open lagoon of technology (COLT) for POME treatment. The selected criteria were benefit, opportunity, risk, and cost, with sub-criteria further determined based on these criteria. The sub-criteria were revenue, greenhouse gas reduction, employment absorption, corporate social responsibility, co-processing, environmental risk, marketing risk, technology reliability, investment cost, operation and maintenance cost, and opportunity cost. The alternatives were COLT-composting for fertilizer purpose and COLT-biogas for energy generation purpose. Calculation and analysis was performed on questionnaire data using Expert Choice^®. COLT-composting proved to be the superior COLT using tentative performance of alternative in this research, with advantages in benefit, opportunity, and risk. The priority weight for COLT-composting was 0.636. Sensitivity analysis was performed by changing criteria priorities. For COLT-biogas to be considered better than COLT-composting, the cost would need to be weighted more than 0.954.     

LCA-IWM: a decision support tool for sustainability assessment of waste management systems

The paper outlines the most significant result of the project 'The use of life cycle assessment tools for the development of integrated waste management strategies for cities and regions with rapid growing economies', which was the development of two decision-support tools: a municipal waste prognostic tool and a waste management system assessment tool. The article focuses on the assessment tool, which supports the adequate decision making in the planning of urban waste management systems by allowing the creation and comparison of different scenarios, considering three basic subsystems: (i) temporary storage; (ii) collection and transport and (iii) treatment, disposal and recycling. The design and analysis options, as well as the assumptions made for each subsystem, are shortly introduced, providing an overview of the applied methodologies and technologies. The sustainability assessment methodology used in the project to support the selection of the most adequate scenario is presented with a brief explanation of the procedures, criteria and indicators applied on the evaluation of each of the three sustainability pillars.     

Integrating multi-criteria techniques with geographical information systems in waste facility location to enhance public participation.

Despite recent U.K. Government commitments' to encourage public participation in environmental decision making, those exercises conducted to date have been largely confined to 'traditional' modes of participation such as the dissemination of information and in encouraging feedback on proposals through, for example, questionnaires or surveys. It is the premise of this paper that participative approaches that use IT-based methods, based on combined geographical information systems (GIS) and multi-criteria evaluation techniques that could involve the public in the decision-making process, have the potential to build consensus and reduce disputes and conflicts such as those arising from the siting of different types of waste facilities. The potential of these techniques are documented through a review of the existing literature in order to highlight the opportunities and challenges facing decision makers in increasing the involvement of the public at different stages of the waste facility management process. It is concluded that there are important lessons to be learned by researchers, consultants, managers and decision makers if barriers hindering the wider use of such techniques are to be overcome.     

Solid waste management by application of the WAMED model

This article aims to develop a general model for the evaluation of ecological-economic efficiency that will serve as an information support tool for decision making at the corporate, municipal, and regional levels. It encompasses cost-benefit analysis in solid waste management by applying a sustainability promoting approach that is explicitly related to monetary measures. A waste managements’ efficient decision (WAMED) model based on cost-benefit analysis is proposed and developed to evaluate the ecological-economic efficiency of solid waste management schemes. The employment of common business administration methodology tools is featured. A classification of competing waste management models is introduced to facilitate evaluation of the relevance of the previously introduced WAMED model. Suggestions are made for how to combine the previously introduced EUROPE model, based on the equality principle, with the WAMED model to create economic incentives to reduce solid waste management-related emissions. A fictive case study presents the practical application of the proposed cost-benefit analysis-based theory to the landfilling concept. It is concluded that the presented methodology reflects an integrated approach to decreasing negative impacts on the environment and on the health of the population, while increasing economic benefits through the implementation of solid waste management projects.     

Multi-criteria decision analysis for waste management in Saharawi refugee camps

The aim of this paper is to compare different waste management solutions in Saharawi refugee camps (Algeria) and to test the feasibility of a decision-making method developed to be applied in particular conditions in which environmental and social aspects must be considered. It is based on multi criteria analysis, and in particular on the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), a mathematical technique for multi-criteria decision making (Saaty, T.L., 1980. The Analytic Hierarchy Process. McGraw-Hill, New York, USA; Saaty, T.L., 1990. How to Make a Decision: The Analytic Hierarchy Process. European Journal of Operational Research; Saaty, T.L., 1994. Decision Making for Leaders: The Analytic Hierarchy Process in a Complex World. RWS Publications, Pittsburgh, PA), and on participatory approach, focusing on local community’s concerns.The research compares four different waste collection and management alternatives: waste collection by using three tipper trucks, disposal and burning in an open area; waste collection by using seven dumpers and disposal in a landfill; waste collection by using seven dumpers and three tipper trucks and disposal in a landfill; waste collection by using three tipper trucks and disposal in a landfill.The results show that the second and the third solutions provide better scenarios for waste management. Furthermore, the discussion of the results points out the multidisciplinarity of the approach, and the equilibrium between social, environmental and technical impacts. This is a very important aspect in a humanitarian and environmental project, confirming the appropriateness of the chosen method.     

Integrating multi-criteria evaluation techniques with geographic information systems for landfill site selection: a case study using ordered weighted average

This paper presents a GIS-based multi-criteria decision analysis approach for evaluating the suitability for landfill site selection in the Polog Region, Macedonia. The multi-criteria decision framework considers environmental and economic factors which are standardized by fuzzy membership functions and combined by integration of analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and ordered weighted average (OWA) techniques. The AHP is used for the elicitation of attribute weights while the OWA operator function is used to generate a wide range of decision alternatives for addressing uncertainty associated with interaction between multiple criteria. The usefulness of the approach is illustrated by different OWA scenarios that report landfill suitability on a scale between 0 and 1. The OWA scenarios are intended to quantify the level of risk taking (i.e., optimistic, pessimistic, and neutral) and to facilitate a better understanding of patterns that emerge from decision alternatives involved in the decision making process.     

Fuzzy multicriteria disposal method and site selection for municipal solid waste

The use of fuzzy multiple criteria analysis (MCA) in solid waste management has the advantage of rendering subjective and implicit decision making more objective and analytical, with its ability to accommodate both quantitative and qualitative data. In this paper a modified fuzzy TOPSIS methodology is proposed for the selection of appropriate disposal method and site for municipal solid waste (MSW). Our method is superior to existing methods since it has capability of representing vague qualitative data and presenting all possible results with different degrees of membership. In the first stage of the proposed methodology, a set of criteria of cost, reliability, feasibility, pollution and emission levels, waste and energy recovery is optimized to determine the best MSW disposal method. Landfilling, composting, conventional incineration, and refuse-derived fuel (RDF) combustion are the alternatives considered. The weights of the selection criteria are determined by fuzzy pairwise comparison matrices of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). It is found that RDF combustion is the best disposal method alternative for Istanbul. In the second stage, the same methodology is used to determine the optimum RDF combustion plant location using adjacent land use, climate, road access and cost as the criteria. The results of this study illustrate the importance of the weights on the various factors in deciding the optimized location, with the best site located in Çatalca. A sensitivity analysis is also conducted to monitor how sensitive our model is to changes in the various criteria weights.