Multicriteria Modeling and the Rational Use of Waste

A problem solving case is here presented to show the potentiality of an integrated approach in relation to a problem that developed in a wood company. Its very large quantity of waste wood has been sold for many years to plywood producers, but this income has been greatly reduced due to new market preferences. The waste wood has therefore become a stock and risk problem; it could however represent a potential clean and free energy source. The technical, financial and law constraints necessitated a multicriteria modeling of the problem, but the uncertainty elements that characterized the situation required integration between the multicriteria approach to the problem formulation and a different approach of problem structuring and strategy development which focuses attention on alternative ways of managing uncertainties. The combination of two different approaches of decision aiding improves the effectiveness of this technical intervention and is intended as a proposal for easier reading of the organizational decision context and for a better support for unstructured decision problems.