AN INTEGRATED FUZZY MULTI CRITERIA DECISION MAKING METHOD FOR SUSTAINABLE (GREEN) PACKAGING MATERIALS SELECTION: AN APPLICATION IN TURKEY

Abstract

The packaging protects the products from external factors and often represents the product. To a decision-maker with inadequate knowledge about the structure and properties of a packaging material, it may be difficult to determine the most applicable one for a given product. In some cases, the defect levels can be so high that the choice of packaging material and other related units can make a product difficult to sell. This may leave the material's selector in a problematic situation. Although packages are mandated to protect the goods inside them, they also need to be easy to store and transport, while being attractive for the consumer market. To be sustainable, packaging waste must be kept at a minimum and should not require any additional cost to be destroyed. To mitigate this, recyclable material should also be evaluated during its construction phase. Considering these significant points, a method to select materials for sustainable packaging is proposed in this paper. In this approach, an integrated DELPHI and fuzzy-Preference Ranking Optimization Method for Enrichment Evaluations approach is employed. Numerical examples are specified in the paper to stimulate an improved understanding of the methodology used, and the experimental results are evaluated through a sensitivity analysis.