Multi-Criteria Analysis of Waste-to-Energy Technologies in Developed and Developing Countries

Multi-Criteria Analysis of Waste-to-Energy

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to establish how multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA) is an incredibly powerful tool; it is not only applicable to evaluating Waste-to-Energy (WTE) technologies but can also be applied to identifying the constraints that are constant when examining the placement of a WTE facility. From this, the focus is best summarized by determining the optimal WTE technology in a developed country and how the process would change if implemented in a developing nation. The technologies used to convert WTE that were reviewed and evaluated were incineration, gasification, and pyrolysis. The MCA can evaluate between different WTE technologies based on a variety of criteria considering environmental, financial, social, technical, waste quality and quantity. Different weighted factors were used for the two MCAs and five alternative weighted factor scenarios were produced to perform a sensitivity analysis on the results. Overall, from this research, pyrolysis was the preferred option for the developed and the developing nation in all six scenarios. Although pyrolysis had the highest overall capital cost due to it being the newest technology, the environmental, social, associated risk, and waste benefits were seen to be more significant on the findings.