Multicriteria model to create and implement an environmental indicator in organizations

Abstract

Environmental monitoring through indicators is crucial for analyzing the performance of a company and its evolution over time, influencing in the quality of management decision making and in the competitiveness of the company. The aim of the present work is to develop a multicriteria model for prioritizing indicators and obtaining an Environmental Index to simplify the management of environmental indicators of a company as a way of monitoring its efficacy and evolution. To that end, an industry producing petroleum refining inputs, liquid effluents, solid waste, and atmospheric emissions was selected for a case study. The prioritization of criteria and indicators was performed by a team of specialists of the company by means of a combination of two decision-making techniques: the Weighted Sum Method (WSM) and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). An index is a form of obtaining a systemic view of the results of environmental indicators and guiding the decision-maker in a given direction with the identification of the most relevant points for the company.