Multicriteria decision support for integral evaluation of investments-Case study: Metallic surface cleaning systems

The assessment of production processes under ecological, technical and economic aspects requires specific methods. Material and energy balances are the precondition of eco-balancing or Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), but not all LACA-methods are suitable for preparing an investment decision in its entirety, as an analysis in this paper shows. For an evaluation of the alternative investments combining techno-economic optimisation with economic indicators, the concepts of Multi Criteria Decision Making are suitable. The Utility Value Theorie and the Outranking-Method PROMETHEE are compared with regard to their ability to propose a ranking of the considered alternatives, suitable for eco-management and investment decisions.