Evaluation of healthcare waste treatment/disposal alternatives by using multi-criteria decision-making techniques

Abstract

Healthcare waste should be managed carefully because of infected, pathological, etc. content especially in developing countries. Applied management systems must be the most appropriate solution from a technical, environmental, economic and social point of view. The main objective of this study was to analyse the current status of healthcare waste management in Turkey, and to investigate the most appropriate treatment/disposal option by using different decision-making techniques. For this purpose, five different healthcare waste treatment/disposal alternatives including incineration, microwaving, on-site sterilization, off-site sterilization and landfill were evaluated according to two multi-criteria decision-making techniques: analytic network process (ANP) and ELECTRE. In this context, benefits, costs and risks for the alternatives were taken into consideration. Furthermore, the prioritization and ranking of the alternatives were determined and compared for both methods. According to the comparisons, the off-site sterilization technique was found to be the most appropriate solution in both cases.

Technology selection for infectious medical waste treatment using the analytic hierarchy process

“…Quantitative information for technology comparison was used, based on relevant literature sources when available (e.g., Zhao et al, 2009;Ozkan, 2013;Karagiannidis et al, 2010;Tudor et al, 2009). The author's judgment was used when specific information was partially available in the literature.…”

“…Detailed technology description with their advantages and shortcomings has been presented in previous studies (HCWH, 2001;Diaz et al, 2005;Yang et al, 2009;Ozkan, 2013). Therefore, only a short description of the technology and the respective commercial systems is presented below.…”

“…Some key factors to consider for technology selection include loading capacity, waste type, microbial inactivation, environmental emissions and residues, compliance with regulations, size of the system and space requirements, reduction of waste mass and volume, degree of automation, technical reliability, health and safety considerations, and cost (HCWH, 2001). Multicriteria assessment methods have been used to select the most appropriate company or treatment technology for infectious medical waste (e.g., Karagiannidis et al, 2010;Dursun et al, 2011;Ho, 2011;Ozkan, 2013), which is a subcategory of HMW. Evaluated technologies included steam disinfection, microwave disinfection, incineration, and sanitary landfilling.…”

Advantages and Disadvantages of Healthcare Waste Treatment and Disposal Alternatives: Malaysian Scenario

“…The treated waste can be disposed of in a regular municipal waste landfill with most non-incineration technologies [38]. Although the landfill method is an easy and low-cost waste disposal method, it can enhance human health risk and environmental pollution if not handled carefully and properly [39,40].…”

A New Approach for Site Selection of Air Quality Monitoring Stations: Multi-Criteria Decision-Making

“…Various studies from other study fields that used MCDM techniques such as Analytic Network Process (ANP), Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Elimination and Choice Expressing Reality (ELECTRE; Elimination Et Choix Traduisant la Realité) have come out with successful results (Tran et al, 2004;Kone and Buke, 2007;Özkan, 2013). MCDM techniques can be applied in many decision problems in environmental studies.…”