USING A MULTI-CRITERIA DECISION MAKING APPROACH IN CONJUNCTION WITH A DELPHI STUDY TO IDENTIFY FACTORS INFLUENCING POLLUTANT EMISSIONS

Abstract

Pollution is currently a major concern in Thailand and other countries around the world. The Thai government has made environmental degradation a priority, emphasizing the benefits of reducing pollution generated by heavy industries. To be successful, a variety of efforts and authority at all levels are required. This study adds to the existing literature on identifying factors that reduce pollution emissions in the plastic industry using a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach. Two-phase methodologies were used to identify and rank such factors from a practical standpoint. From the first phase, two rounds of the Delphi method yielded three main criteria and 12 sub-criteria. Regarding that, the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to rank those factors. The findings indicated that the top three sub-criteria for According to the findings, the top three sub-criteria for reducing pollution emissions were "determination of standard improvement of pollution discharge at source clearly" (19.55%), "improvement of production efficiency" (15.32%), and "set up action plans for emergency pollution accidents from industry" (11.04%), respectively. Among the main factors, "Source reduction" has the highest rank (40.4%). Finally, this study discussed recommendations for entrepreneurs and policymakers.