Assessing the sustainable health-care waste disposal techniques using a hybrid interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy operational competitiveness rating model
摘要
Health-care waste (HCW) comprises potentially harmful microorganisms that can infect medical professionals, hospital patients and the general public. The management and treatment of HCW are of great concern due to its potential risk to the society and environment. At the present time, several techniques are available for the treatment of HCW materials. Each technique has its own advantages and disadvantages in terms of continuing effects on the human health and environment. On the other hand, uncertainty is widely associated with the real-life HCW disposal techniques assessment problem. This work aims to develop a hybrid decision-making model for assessing the HCW disposal techniques from uncertainty and sustainability perspectives. In this model, an integrated weighting tool using the symmetry point of criterion (SPC) and pivot pairwise relative criteria importance assessment (PIPRECIA) models is presented to prioritize the importance of considered indicators under interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy (IVIF) environment. To this aim, a new interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy score function is proposed with its effectiveness over existing ones. Further, a combined operational competitiveness rating (OCRA) approach, named as IVIF-SPC-PIPRECIA-OCRA, is presented to evaluate the health-care waste disposal techniques. To confirm the applicability and usefulness of introduced model, it is applied to a case study of HCW disposal techniques assessment, wherein the information is given in terms of interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy numbers. This study identifies the criteria/indicators through comprehensive survey and then determines the most suitable HCW disposal technique using the proposed approach by means of socio-technical and triple bottom line theories. The results indicate that Emission, Annual operating cost, Waste residuals and Environmental impact are the most effective sustainable factors and Plasma arc technology is the most suitable technique for the disposal of health-care waste. Sensitivity and comparative analyses are performed to check the consistency, robustness and efficiency of introduced IVIF-SPC-PIPRECIA-OCRA model. The obtained results support the policymakers to set up a systematic tool for choosing the most suitable HCW disposal technique from sustainability points of view.
Graphical abstract