Analysis of Environmental Impact for Material Production Investments Using a Novel Soft Computing Methodology

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the environmental impacts of material production investments. The factors of Higg Materials Sustainability Index are defined as the parameters. These factors are weighted by considering T-SF TOPSIS-DEMATEL. Moreover, the items of the life cycle process are defined as alternative set for measuring the environmental effects of each process in the sustainable production investments. These alternatives are ranked with interval valued SF MAIRCA. The calculations are also made for different t, u and d values with the aim of making comparative evaluations. The main contribution of this study is that a priority analysis has been made so that the most significant indicators are defined for the companies to increase sustainability in material production investment process. Another important novelty of this paper is that a new model is created by the name of TOPSIS-DEMATEL. This situation has a positive influence on both increasing methodological originality and overcoming criticized issues of DEMATEL. The results are quite similar for all conditions, so it is understood that the proposed model provides consistent and coherent findings. It is concluded that chemistry is the most critical factor for environmental impact for material production investments. Moreover, recycle is determined as the most optimal alternative.

Automated summary

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the environmental impacts of material production investments. The Higg Materials Sustainability Index is used as a parameter and weighted by T-SF TOPSIS-DEMATEL. The life cycle process items are defined as alternatives and ranked using interval valued SF MAIRCA. The study contributes by defining the most significant indicators for companies to increase sustainability in material production investment process.