Practitioners’ Perceptions of Co-Product Allocation Methods in Biorefinery Development—A Case Study of the Austrian Pulp and Paper Industry

Julia Wenger, Stefan Pichler, Annukka Näyhä and Tobias Stern
Additional contact information
Julia Wenger: Institute of Systems Sciences, Innovation and Sustainability Research, University of Graz, Merangasse 18/I, 8010 Graz, Austria
Stefan Pichler: Institute of Systems Sciences, Innovation and Sustainability Research, University of Graz, Merangasse 18/I, 8010 Graz, Austria
Annukka Näyhä: School of Business and Economics, University of Jyväskylä, 40014 Jyväskylä, Finland
Tobias Stern: Institute of Systems Sciences, Innovation and Sustainability Research, University of Graz, Merangasse 18/I, 8010 Graz, Austria

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 5, 1-16

Abstract: The utilization of coproducts is a strategy that can be applied to increase the economic and environmental performance of industrial processes and thus reach an objective targeted in several environmental policies. In multi-output production processes, allocation needs to be performed to assess the products’ environmental and economic performance. It is crucial to choose an adequate allocation method, because this choice has been shown to strongly influence overall outcomes. Consequently, rash choices can lead to poor decision-making. Various ways to apply and combine allocation methods can be found in the academic literature, but it is often difficult to find sufficient guidance on how to choose an allocation method for a specific context. This study explores practitioners’ perceptions of the cost and environmental impact allocation methods used in biorefinery development (lignin, fiber fines) by applying the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). Results indicate that professional background represents a major factor influencing individual preferences and, thus, the selection of specific allocation methods. Policy makers should be aware that practitioners with different professional backgrounds have varying preferences for different allocation methods and that this influences the overall assessments. These factors, in turn, affect the interpretation of results, further decision-making and, ultimately, the realization of environmentally sound and economically viable biorefinery projects. This issue deserves more attention in biorefineries, but also in other multi-output production processes. The findings indicate a need to consider multidisciplinary, diverse views and knowledge when conducting such assessments and to display the underlying approaches transparently.

Keywords: allocation of costs and environmental impacts; corporate environmental management; wood biorefineries; stakeholder perception; analytic hierarchy process (AHP); multicriteria decision-making (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/5/2619/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/5/2619/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:5:p:2619-:d:757303

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().