Assessing the Criteria of Eco-Industrial Park Site Selection for the Sustainable Development Goals Initiatives

Abstract

The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) proposed the development of eco-industrial parks (EIP) related to the 9th, 12th, and 13th of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) for ensuring green industrial practice to deal with climate change. The first approach to EIP is choosing a suitable site, however, it is not a simple task, because it involves spatial factors and is always impaired by uncertainties that require more than one decision module. There is a fewer study in objectively assessing the criteria for the selection of suitable sites for EIP development to contribute to the SDG initiative. This study provides an integrated process for assessing a consistent weight of criteria for EIP site selection. Nine steps were used in the fuzzy-analytical hierarchy process namely criterion identification, hierarchical structure construction, triangular fuzzy number matrix, geometric ratio, fuzzy relative weight, defuzzification, normalisation, sensitivity analysis (SA) and weight ranking. When tested using spatial and non-spatial criteria for EIP site selection, results show transportation infrastructure (13%), raw materials (12%), water bodies (12%), climate (10%), labour (9%), land use (9%), markets (9%), governmental policies (8%), existing industries (7%), urban settlement (6%), and restricted areas (5%). The SA verified that any evaluation error of 2% or 5% on the criteria weight is insignificant, but for 10% error, results can be distorted. The study has developed a consistent, simple approach integrating hierarchical and uncertainty modules for choosing EIP locations, and it is proposed as a guide for selecting suitable greenfield or brownfield EIP sites for sustainable industrial practices.

Citation

Nuhu, S.K., Reba, M.N.M., Manan, Z.A., Alwi, S.R.W. and Ridzuan, F.N.S. (2022), "Assessing the Criteria of Eco-Industrial Park Site Selection for the Sustainable Development Goals Initiatives", Din, M.F.M., Alias, N.E., Hussein, N. and Zaidi, N.S. (Ed.) Sustainability Management Strategies and Impact in Developing Countries (Community, Environment and Disaster Risk Management, Vol. 26), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 135-148. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2040-726220220000026011