Waste Management Solutions for Tunisia: An MCDM Analysis of Energy-from-Waste Technologies

Abstract

Conventional waste management practices, such as landfilling and uncontrolled dumping, pose increasing environmental and sustainability challenges, particularly in developing countries. Energy-from-waste (EfW) technologies offer an alternative by converting municipal solid waste into useful forms of energy, including electricity and heat. However, selecting the most suitable technology requires balancing technical, economic, environmental, and social factors. This study applies a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) framework that combines Grey System Theory with the Additive Ratio Assessment (ARAS) method to evaluate and rank seven EfW technologies in Tunisia. Grey analysis was used to determine the relative weights of ten evaluation criteria, while the ARAS approach was employed to assess alternatives, including anaerobic digestion, depolymerization, gasification, incineration, landfill gas recovery, plasma gasification, and pyrolysis. The results indicate that landfill gas recovery is the most suitable option under current conditions, followed by anaerobic digestion, while plasma gasification ranks lowest. These findings highlight the importance of cost and operational feasibility in technology selection. The study concludes that prioritizing landfill gas and anaerobic digestion could support sustainable waste management in Tunisia, although literature-based data and expert judgment influence the results. Future work incorporating site-specific data and broader stakeholder input could further improve decision robustness.