In search of a european paper industry ranking in terms of sustainability by using binary goal programming

Abstract

Sustainability is a multidimensional concept in continuous evolution. However, the suitability of using several indicators of a diverse nature to characterise and quantify this concept has been widely accepted. Within this orientation, in this work, the paper industry's sustainability in a significant number of European countries has been analysed. To achieve this purpose, a set of economic, environmental and social indicators have been defined for the year 2004. With the help of a binary goal programming model, these indicators were aggregated into a synthetic index that measures the overall sustainability of the industry analysed. In this way, a "ranking" according to the sustainability of the paper industry in the European countries studied has been obtained. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010.