Vulnerability assessment using hazard potency for regions generating industrial hazardous waste

This study proposes a methodology that would measure the hazardous characteristics of industrial waste based on its physical and chemical properties. A composite hazardous waste index (HWI) is framed using a new aggregation operator proposed in this study. However, HWI alone cannot be used to compare the hazardous characteristics of different wastes. The concept of hazard potency (HP) is introduced in this study in order to address this problem. HP can be calculated not only for a single waste stream but also for multiple industrial processes in an industry. Thus the hazardous wastes generated from two industries can be directly compared using this methodology. The vulnerability arising out of an industrial unit has been evaluated using HP values of the unit and the population residing within its impact area. The industries in a region are prioritized based on the vulnerability of the adjoining population using the non-dominated sorting algorithm. Solutions are ordered into various levels of domination depending on their HP and population values. A case study of Kolkata Metropolitan Area is provided to substantiate the methodology.