Presenting a new model of municipal waste management cost reduction priorities based on the Gray-TOPSIS model

Abstract

 

The role of economic factors is significant in the municipal waste management. The present descriptive-applied study aimed to present a new model of municipal waste management cost reduction priorities based on the Gray-TOPSIS model in Ahvaz City in 2022. Following the collection of data on the current municipal waste management, effective criteria influencing cost reduction in municipal waste management were determined through document analysis. Expert analysis was also utilized to identify factors impacting cost reduction in municipal waste management. The Gray-TOPSIS methodology was applied to prioritize solutions for cost reduction in municipal waste management. Through calculating the Kendall agreement index, 20 solutions for cost reduction in waste management were categorized and prioritized into educational, political, cultural, and executive groups. The findings revealed that while political measures such as approving laws related to municipal waste management and incentive and punitive policies with special weightings of 0.804 and 0.799, respectively, are the most effective solutions for reducing waste management costs, overall, educational process-related solutions with an average weighting of 0.686 have a higher priority than other processes. Government support and public education through various means, especially non-governmental media and social networks, are potential solutions for reducing municipal waste management costs in Ahvaz City under current conditions.