Materials selection for cleaner production: An environmental evaluation approach

This paper demonstrates an integrated approach to the selection of materials for cleaner production, using binary dominance matrix and grey relational analysis to aid decision-making by engineers. The starting point of this study is to determine the environmental evaluation criteria and to assign weights reflecting their relative importance. In order to assist engineers in the application of the grey evaluation process, and to simplify the computational complexity, a calculating tool based on spreadsheet application has been developed. A case example is provided, in which five poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) materials are subjected to environmental evaluation to determine their sustainability for handbag manufacture. The result of the grey relational analysis and the limitations of the approach are discussed, laying a foundation for further work.