An AHP and BEES model-based sustainability assessment of small-scale marble processing industries: Indian prospects

Abstract

Ornamental marble stone holds significant value as a natural resource and serves as a primary mineral within the mining and processing industries of Rajasthan (India). This industry is characterised by its longstanding production practices and increasing economic impact, placing it among many other conventional sectors. Small to medium-sized industries operate the majority of marble processing industries, and because of their high production levels and lack of monitoring of resource flow and energy consumption, these industries threaten the natural ecosystem and adversely affect human health. This study presents an energy consumption analysis of each transferring and cutting technique employed in the Indian state of Rajasthan’s marble ornamental stone processing industries. The energy consumption dataset utilised for the energy analysis was obtained through a survey conducted in four processing industries, and cross-validation of the information was performed from existing literature on stone industries. Life-cycle assessment was performed with gate-to-gate boundary conditions in which four environmental impacts, such as global warming potential, abiotic depletion potential, acidification potential and human toxicity potential, were calculated using the sustainability and life-cycle assessment tool GaBi^®. Furthermore, the analytical hierarchy process was employed to evaluate and rank the various marble processing industries with sustainability indicators. The consolidated index was developed via manufacturing, economic and environmental score indicators, and the outcomes were compared with the analytical hierarchy process results for validation. The study also suggested feasible strategies to improve the processing plants’ overall effectiveness while reducing their environmental impact.