Decision Support Frameworks in Solid Waste Management : Review of Multi-Criteria Decision-Making with Sustainability and Social Indicators

Waste management is a critical sector that needs to coordinate its activities with outcomes that impact society. Multi-criteria decision-making methods for waste management have been widely considered using both, environmental and economic criteria. With the development of new social regulations and concerns, sustainable waste management needs to additionally target socially acceptable practices. Despite the need to aid solid waste management decision makers in contemplating the three pillars of sustainability, limited inclusion of social impacts has been found in the multi-objective decision making literature. This study presents a systematic literature review on multi-criteria decision-making methods in solid waste management. The purposes of this study are threefold: (1) Emphasize the application of multi-objective decision-making methods, summarizing the models that have been used and their applications; (2) Provide insights in the quantification of social aspects and their inclusion in decision-making methods, providing a list of social indicators collected from the reviewed studies; (3) Offer analysis of stakeholders’ involvement into the optimization framework. From the articles investigated, one can observe the importance of understanding the local context in which the waste management system is located, and the essentiality of community consultation to recognize potential challenges and improvements to solid waste management systems. Consequently, the involvement of stakeholders is crucial during the quantification process of social indicators