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• Logical framework for developing efficient MSW management system. • Multi-attribute model for finding suitable locations of MSW facilities. • Inclusion of all relevant environmental, social, economical and technical criteria. Selecting appropriate locations for municipal solid waste (MSW) management facilities, such as transfer stations, is an important issue in rapidly developing regions. Multiple alternatives and evaluation attributes need to be analyzed for finalizing the locations of these facilities. Multi-attribute decision-making (MADM) approaches are found to be very effective for ranking several potential locations and hence selecting the best among them based on the identified attributes. However, conventional MADM approaches fail to find the rankings of alternatives derived from all possible combinations of these potential locations. Therefore, this study presents a two-stage MADM model that also accounts for all possible combinations of locations. This study evaluates economical, environmental, social and technical attributes based on realistic conditions of the study area, i.e. , Nashik city (India). The results provide the ranks of all possible combinations along with their probabilities of rank reversibility. The mean and standard deviation of the relative closeness are further evaluated for the top-ranking locations under distinct schemes. The present study will help stakeholders in finding suitable locations for MSW management facilities while considering economic, environmental, social and technical attributes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Methodological advancement of metrics for circular economy at product level. • Multi Criteria Decision Analysis used to obtain better decision support. • Proposal to couple material circularity indicators and life cycle based-indicators. • Coupling performed via TOPSIS (Technique for Order by Similarity to Ideal Solution). • Illustrative case study for beer packaging used to validate the proposal. Abstract The debate on the identification of the most suited metrics for circular economy (CE) is open, no consensus has been reached yet on what CE indicators at product level should measure, which creates a subjective methodological framework for assessing CE strategies. In this study, we demonstrate that by coupling different types of indicators via Multi Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) it is possible to deal with conflicting situations where the selection of the best alternative can be biased by the choice of the metric. We use a beer packaging case, by simulating a situation where a company is interested in comparing the performances of different packaging from a CE perspective. We consider eight different beer packaging alternatives in two geographical contexts (United Kingdom and India). Two sets of indicators are coupled via MCDA: i) material circularity based- indicators, namely Material Reutilization Score and Material Circularity Indicator, and ii) a selection of life cycle based- indicators relevant for beer, i.e. climate change, abiotic resource depletion, acidification, particulate matter and water consumption. The results obtained by the application of the TOPSIS (Technique for Order by Similarity to Ideal Solution) method show that the different sets of indicators can be integrated and conflicts among them can be resolved. Overall, the application of different weighting scenarios does not change the ranking of the alternatives, thus confirming that the results are stable. Therefore, our proposal of coupling material circularity indicators with LCA indicators via MCDA can advance the assessment of CE strategies at the product level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the prevailing practice of obtaining single scores in life cycle assessment (LCA) and identifies potential lacunas in impact assessment methodology related to the results of aggregation into endpoints and single scores. In order to conduct this investigation, a detailed approach was adopted to facilitate identification of three main problems related to the single-score calculation approach. The prevailing ReCiPe single-score calculation method does not account for either the effect of so-called dominating alternatives (i.e., alternatives having high values across all endpoints) or the interdependency of the indicators being aggregated. It was also found that the simple linear weighted sum method, presently used for obtaining single scores, is not capable of accounting for the effect of weighting schemes and thus cannot realistically represent stakeholders' perspectives. Finally, we propose a distance-based multiple attribute decision-making method for use in obtaining single scores. This method was found to be more suitable, given that it takes into account the weighting schemes and types of indicators in the process of estimating single scores. The new single-score calculation method proposed here is considered ideal for environmental decision-making problems in the context of life cycle sustainability assessment. Thus, it is also ideal for situations in which more-complex decision-making situations will emerge by combining LCA indicators (midpoints or endpoints) with other indicators representing the performance of a system from economic and social perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the problem of selecting the most sustainable stormwater management alternative in developing countries in a dense urban context. Firstly, suitable Low Impact Development (LID) stormwater management measures for dense urban areas in developing countries were identified based on critical review of literature. Alternatives have been formulated as varying percentages (degree of adoption) of these suitable measures to manage the stormwater sustainably. Further, a novel decision-making framework is developed which generates the hierarchy for selection of the most sustainable stormwater management alternative. Four main criteria (technical, economic, environmental and social) comprising three quantitative and eight qualitative indicators have been used for evaluating seven alternatives. The regional and local societal priorities are captured through criteria-weightings and are translated into a decision-making methodology. Experts' opinions have been included using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). One of the most widely used Multiple Attribute Decision-Making (MADM) method, TOPSIS, is used to rank the alternatives and to identify the most sustainable alternatives. Various scenarios to represent different stakeholders' perspectives have been articulated. Alternative with medium level of cost implication and satisfactory level of performance is chosen by the decision making method in most of the scenarios. The proposed decision making approach can be used for selecting sustainable stormwater management options in densely populated areas of developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five multiple-attribute decision-making (MADM) methods are used to rank the four most commonly used wastewater treatment technologies in India using pre-defined set of criteria and their indicators. Results show that it is difficult to get similar ranking using different MADM methods for equal set of weights. However, for varying weights all MADM methods generated similar ranking. It is found that in wastewater treatment alternative selection problem, it is essential to define set of weights considering priorities of the decision situation. Emphasis on a rational structuring of decision-making problem is more required than searching for more sophisticated MADM methods. TOPSIS is found to be the most suitable MADM method as it considers ideal and non-ideal solutions simultaneously to select appropriate wastewater treatment alternative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Many technological alternatives for wastewater treatment are available, ranging from advanced technologies to conventional treatment options. It is difficult to select the most appropriate technology from among a set of available alternatives to treat wastewater at a particular location. Many factors, such as capital costs, operation and maintenance costs and land requirement, are involved in the decision-making process. Sustainability criteria must also be incorporated into the decision-making process such that appropriate technologies are selected for developing economies such as that of India. A scenario-based multiple-attribute decision-making (MADM) methodology has been developed and applied to the selection of wastewater treatment alternative. The four most commonly used wastewater treatment technologies for treatment of municipal wastewater in India are ranked for various scenarios. Six scenarios are developed that capture the regional and local societal priorities of urban, suburban and rural areas and translate them into the mathematical algorithm of the MADM methodology. The articulated scenarios depict the most commonly encountered decision-making situations in addressing technology selection for wastewater treatment in India. A widely used compensatory MADM technique, TOPSIS, has been selected to rank the alternatives. Seven criteria with twelve indicators are formulated to evaluate the alternatives. Different weight matrices are used for each scenario, depending on the priorities of the scenario. This study shows that it is difficult to select the most appropriate wastewater treatment alternative under the “no scenario” condition (equal weights given to each attribute), and the decision-making methodology presented in this paper effectively identifies the most appropriate wastewater treatment alternative for each of the scenarios. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]