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Selection of healthcare waste management treatment using fuzzy rough numbers and Aczel-Alsina Function
Dragan Pamučar1,2, Adis Puška3, Vladimir Simić4
1Department of Operations Research and Statistics, Faculty of Organizational Sciences, University of Belgrade, 11000, Belgrade, Serbia.
Insights
The COVID-19 pandemic increased healthcare waste (HCW). This study identifies microwave treatment as the best HCW management method in Bosnia and Herzegovina, prioritizing environmental impact.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Waste Management
- Public Health
Background:
- The COVID-19 pandemic significantly increased healthcare waste (HCW), necessitating a re-evaluation of waste management strategies.
- Existing HCW treatments present various advantages and disadvantages, requiring a systematic approach for selection.
- Effective HCW management is crucial for public health and environmental protection, especially in post-pandemic scenarios.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the most appropriate healthcare waste management treatment for the Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- To analyze and rank six different HCW management treatments based on twelve criteria.
- To introduce a novel decision-making approach using fuzzy rough numbers and specific operators.
Main Methods:
- A fuzzy rough approach was employed to handle linguistic uncertainty in evaluating HCW treatments.
- The OPA method, utilizing the Bonferroni operator, was used to assign weights to twelve decision criteria.
- The MARCOS method, incorporating the Aczel-Alsina function, was applied for the final ranking of HCW management treatments.
Main Results:
- Environmental Impact was identified as the most critical criterion, while Automation Level received the lowest weight.
- Microwave treatment (A6) emerged as the most effective HCW management method.
- Landfill treatment (A5) was ranked as the least suitable option among the analyzed methods.
Conclusions:
- The study presents a robust, novel decision-making framework for selecting optimal HCW management strategies.
- The proposed fuzzy rough approach, combined with Bonferroni and Aczel-Alsina functions, enhances decision accuracy and stability.
- Microwave treatment is recommended as the preferred method for HCW management in the studied region, considering environmental and operational factors.
Abstract:
The COVID-19 pandemic led to an increase in healthcare waste (HCW). HCW management treatment needs to be re-taken into focus to deal with this challenge. In practice, there are several treatments of HCW with their advantages and disadvantages. This study is conducted to select the appropriate treatment for HCW in the Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Six HCW management treatments are analyzed and observed through twelve criteria. Ten-level linguistic values were used to bring this evaluation closer to human thinking. A fuzzy rough approach is used to solve the problem of inaccuracy in determining these values. The OPA method from the Bonferroni operator is used to determine the weights of the criteria. The results of the application of this method showed that the criterion Environmental Impact ( ) received the highest weight, while the criterion Automation Level ( ) received the lowest value. The ranking of HCW management treatments was performed using MARCOS methods based on the Aczel-Alsina function. The results of this analysis showed that the best-ranked HCW management treatment is microwave (A6) while landfill treatment (A5) is ranked worst. This study has provided a new approach based on fuzzy rough numbers where the Bonferroni function is used to determine the lower and upper limits, while the application of the Aczel-Alsina function reduced the influence of decision-makers on the final decision because this function stabilizes the decision-making process.
