Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Ph.D. student of the Industrial Management, Accounting and management Faculty, College of Farabi, University of Tehran, Qom, Iran.
2 Assistant professor of management and technology, Accounting and management Faculty, College of Farabi, University of Tehran, Qom, Iran.
Abstract
Food loss and waste represent a major global challenge threatening food security and exacerbating climate change. Upcycling food waste into value-added products is increasingly recognized as an effective pathway toward a circular economy. This study introduces a novel integrated multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) framework based on Circular Intuitionistic Fuzzy Sets (CIFS) combined with MEREC objective weighting and CIFS-MARCOS ranking an approach not previously applied to food waste upcycling. Ten prominent upcycling strategies were identified from recent literature and evaluated against twelve sustainability criteria by ten food industry experts. Results revealed “market potential,” “public awareness of upcycled products,” and “food quality and safety” as the most influential criteria. Among strategies, producing sustainable textiles from food waste ranked first, followed by sustainable packaging, novel food ingredients, and bioenergy production. The proposed framework effectively handles uncertainty and dynamic interdependencies among criteria, offering a robust and original tool for prioritizing upcycling pathways. Findings provide policymakers and industry stakeholders with evidence-based guidance to maximize environmental, economic, and social benefits while supporting multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
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