Selecting sustainable waste-to-energy technologies for municipal solid waste treatment: a game theory approach for group decision-making

Abstract An efficient waste treatment strategy should be cost-effective and minimize potential impacts on various stakeholders and the environment. This study proposes a decision framework that can model the stakeholder's conflicting priorities over the sustainability criteria, when selecting a municipal solid waste treatment option. The proposed framework compares life cycle sustainability impacts of selected options and develops a weighing scheme for combining impacts based on stakeholders' preferences. It then uses game theory to help the stakeholders fairly share the costs and benefits, and guides the stakeholders to reach an agreement on a mutually sustainable and pragmatic solution. In this study, the application of the framework to select a waste-to-energy technology for Vancouver, Canada is demonstrated. The case study discusses the prospect of producing refuse-derived fuel by cement industry and the municipality. Results show that the cement industry and the municipality may mutually benefit from the refuse-derived fuel, if the industry pays a tipping fee of $0.077–0.96 per kg waste to access the required amount of solid waste from the municipality. The outcome of the framework can help in the approval and application of an overall sustainable option by both stakeholders and in making the negotiation more efficient and timely.

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