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A Multi-criteria Decision Analysis of Co-substrate Selection to Improve Biowaste Composting: a Mathematical Model Applied to Colombia

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Abstract

Several physicochemical properties of biowaste can limit its composting. The incorporation of bulking agents (BA) and amendment materials (AM) is the most frequently applied operational approach to overcome such substrate limitations. This work proposes a decision model to optimally select bulking agents and amendment materials by applying a multicriteria analysis. The main objective of this study was to present a methodology to rank the co-substrates needed to compost biowaste. To accomplish this aim, an integrated hierarchy-based model was used that accounted for technical and environmental criteria. In particular, Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) were used to rank the potential co-substrates. The co-substrate ranking that was achieved with AHP and TOPSIS was then complemented by a cost analysis. The results of this study demonstrated the importance and the significant weight of the technical criteria, such as nutrients, porosity and biodegradability. The methodology was applied to a small town in Colombia that operates a biowaste composting facility. The results of the application of the tool in the above case study revealed that the most suitable materials for biowaste composting were sugarcane filter cake and star grass.

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Abbreviations

AHP:

Analytic Hierarchy Process

AM:

Amendment materials

BA:

Bulking agents

Bw:

Biowaste

INS:

Ideal negative solution

IPS:

Ideal positive solution

MCDA:

Multicriteria Based Decision Analysis methods

MSW:

Municipal Solid Waste

MR:

Mixing Ratio

OM:

Organic matter

t:

Tonne

TOPSIS:

Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution

TOC:

Total organic carbon

TN:

Total nitrogen

TP:

Total phosphorus

TK:

Total potassium

TF:

Turning Frequency

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Colciencias for financing the research project -CI 2985 and for financing the PhD candidate, Jonathan Soto-Paz, as a national doctoral fellow, ad 727 of 2015. R. Oviedo-Ocaña thanks the Universidad Industrial de Santander (UIS) for the support received during the development of this investigation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Grupo de Estudio y Control de la Contaminación Ambiental (ECCA), Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad del Valle, Calle 13 #100-00, Cali, Colombia

    Jonathan Soto-Paz, Luis Fernando Marmolejo-Rebellón & Patricia Torres-Lozada

  2. Grupo de investigación Recursos Hídricos y Saneamiento Ambiental (GPH), Facultad de Ingeniería, Fisicomecanicas, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Carrera 27 calle ciudad universitaria, Bucaramanga, Colombia

    Edgar Ricardo Oviedo-Ocaña

  3. Grupo de Logística y Producción (LogyPro), Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad del Valle, Calle 13 #100-00, Cali, Colombia

    Pablo Cesar Manyoma & Jenny Fabiana Gaviría-Cuevas

  4. GICOM, Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, Autonomous University of Barcelona, 08193, Bellatera, Spain

    Antoni Sánchez

  5. Department of Environmental Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, 67132, Xanthi, Greece

    Dimitrios Komilis

Authors
  1. Jonathan Soto-Paz
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  2. Edgar Ricardo Oviedo-Ocaña
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  3. Pablo Cesar Manyoma
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  4. Jenny Fabiana Gaviría-Cuevas
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  5. Luis Fernando Marmolejo-Rebellón
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  6. Patricia Torres-Lozada
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  8. Dimitrios Komilis
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Correspondence to Dimitrios Komilis.

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Soto-Paz, J., Oviedo-Ocaña, E.R., Manyoma, P.C. et al. A Multi-criteria Decision Analysis of Co-substrate Selection to Improve Biowaste Composting: a Mathematical Model Applied to Colombia. Environ. Process. 6, 673–694 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40710-019-00387-6

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