Assessing and overcoming the barriers for healthcare waste management in India: an integrated AHP and Fuzzy TOPSIS approach

PurposeDue to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the world faces different issues, and proper healthcare waste (HCW) treatment is one of them. If appropriate disposal of HCW is not performed, it will have hazardous effects on humanity. This paper has identified the significant barriers hindering the proper treatment of healthcare waste management (HCWM) with the strategies to overcome these barriers.Design/methodology/approachThis paper has identified the significant barriers hindering the proper treatment of HCWM with the strategies to overcome these barriers, and different barriers are identified and categorized into organizational, waste handling, human resource and technical barriers. The analytical hierarchy process (AHP) process is used to rank the barriers and sub-barriers. Then, the Fuzzy Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method evaluates the strategies for proper implementation of HCWM.FindingsThe results show that organizational barriers are the most significant barrier, with a lack of coordination of hospitals with other authorities and no priority given to waste management issues as highly ranked barriers. The results of the Fuzzy TOPSIS method indicate that "Increase govt support and policies" and "Enhance training and awareness of employees" are the most feasible strategies to overcome these barriers for the successful implementation of HCWM.Practical implicationsThis study will be helpful in policy formulations for the proper treatment of HCW in an efficient manner. This paper helps to complete the research gap by providing the different characteristics of barriers.Originality/valueThis paper fills the research gap by expanding the limited knowledge in this field and providing further evidence on this phenomenon. The study also enables the distinctive characteristics of barriers to be understood within a particular context.