IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v8y2016i12p1250-d84121.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Performance Measurement Tool Leading Wastewater Treatment Plants toward Economic Efficiency and Sustainability

Author

Listed:
  • Andrea Guerrini

    (Department of Management, University of Verona, 37129 Verona, Italy)

  • Giulia Romano

    (Department of Economics and Management, University of Pisa, 56124 Pisa, Italy)

  • Simone Ferretti

    (GIDA. SpA, 59100 Prato, Italy)

  • Donatella Fibbi

    (GIDA. SpA, 59100 Prato, Italy)

  • Daniele Daddi

    (GIDA. SpA, 59100 Prato, Italy)

Abstract

Wastewater treatment is an important link in the water cycle that allows for water sanitation and reuse, facilitates energy generation, and allows for the recovery of products from waste. The scientific community has paid significant attention to wastewater treatment, especially from a technical point of view. Extensive literature is available on new technologies, processes, and materials to improve wastewater treatment. However, scant studies have been conducted in the management field focusing on the development of a performance measurement tool that supports plant managers. The current article addresses this literature gap, developing a reporting tool that integrates technical and cost measures and implements it in a large wastewater utility. The tool successfully identifies cause and effect linkages among key plant performance drivers and supports management in finding activities with poor performance and allows them to delay non-relevant measures of control.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrea Guerrini & Giulia Romano & Simone Ferretti & Donatella Fibbi & Daniele Daddi, 2016. "A Performance Measurement Tool Leading Wastewater Treatment Plants toward Economic Efficiency and Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-14, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:8:y:2016:i:12:p:1250-:d:84121
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/8/12/1250/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/8/12/1250/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Neely, Andy & Mills, John & Platts, Ken & Gregory, Mike & Richards, Huw, 1996. "Performance measurement system design: Should process based approaches be adopted?," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 423-431, December.
    2. Guerrini, Andrea & Romano, Giulia & Mancuso, Fabrizio & Carosi, Laura, 2016. "Identifying the performance drivers of wastewater treatment plants through conditional order-m efficiency analysis," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 20-31.
    3. Fytili, D. & Zabaniotou, A., 2008. "Utilization of sewage sludge in EU application of old and new methods--A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 12(1), pages 116-140, January.
    4. Franck Brulhart & Uche Okongwu & Btissam Moncef, 2015. "Causal linkages between supply chain management practices and performance: a balanced scorecard strategy map perspective," Post-Print halshs-01239670, HAL.
    5. Yael Perlman, 2013. "Causal Relationships in the Balanced Scorecard: A Path Analysis Approach," Journal of Management and Strategy, Journal of Management and Strategy, Sciedu Press, vol. 4(1), pages 70-79, February.
    6. Montse Meneses & Henry Concepción & Ramon Vilanova, 2016. "Joint Environmental and Economical Analysis of Wastewater Treatment Plants Control Strategies: A Benchmark Scenario Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-20, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Rosa M. Llácer-Iglesias & P. Amparo López-Jiménez & Modesto Pérez-Sánchez, 2021. "Energy Self-Sufficiency Aiming for Sustainable Wastewater Systems: Are All Options Being Explored?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-20, May.
    2. Momina Yasin & Muhammad Tauseef & Zaniab Zafar & Moazur Rahman & Ejazul Islam & Samina Iqbal & Muhammad Afzal, 2021. "Plant-Microbe Synergism in Floating Treatment Wetlands for the Enhanced Removal of Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate from Water," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-11, March.
    3. Philipp Kehrein & Mark van Loosdrecht & Patricia Osseweijer & John Posada & Jo Dewulf, 2020. "The SPPD-WRF Framework: A Novel and Holistic Methodology for Strategical Planning and Process Design of Water Resource Factories," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-31, May.
    4. Ágota Bányai, 2021. "Energy Consumption-Based Maintenance Policy Optimization," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-33, September.
    5. Ploutarchos N. Kerpelis & Spyridon K. Golfinopoulos & Dimitrios E. Alexakis, 2021. "A Proposed Theoretical Approach for the Estimation of Seismic Structural Vulnerability of Wastewater Treatment Plants," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-18, April.
    6. Tskhai, Аleksandr, 2020. "Model for evaluating the efficiency of Russian water utilities," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    7. Hadi Sarvari & Daniel W. M. Chan & Behrouz Ashrafi & Timothy O. Olawumi & Nerija Banaitiene, 2021. "Prioritization of Contracting Methods for Water and Wastewater Projects Using the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process Method," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-18, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. D’Inverno, Giovanna & Carosi, Laura & Romano, Giulia & Guerrini, Andrea, 2018. "Water pollution in wastewater treatment plants: An efficiency analysis with undesirable output," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 269(1), pages 24-34.
    2. Shahbeig, Hossein & Nosrati, Mohsen, 2020. "Pyrolysis of municipal sewage sludge for bioenergy production: Thermo-kinetic studies, evolved gas analysis, and techno-socio-economic assessment," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    3. Sanchez, M.E. & Otero, M. & Gómez, X. & Morán, A., 2009. "Thermogravimetric kinetic analysis of the combustion of biowastes," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 1622-1627.
    4. Seongmin Kang & Changsang Cho & Ki-Hyun Kim & Eui-chan Jeon, 2018. "Fossil Carbon Fraction and Measuring Cycle for Sewage Sludge Waste Incineration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-8, August.
    5. Henriques, Alda A. & Camanho, Ana S. & Amorim, Pedro & Silva, Jaime G., 2020. "Performance benchmarking using composite indicators to support regulation of the Portuguese wastewater sector," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    6. Jiawen Zhang & Zhiyi Liang & Toru Matsumoto & Tiejia Zhang, 2022. "Environmental and Economic Implication of Implementation Scale of Sewage Sludge Recycling Systems Considering Carbon Trading Price," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-16, July.
    7. Bidart, Christian & Fröhling, Magnus & Schultmann, Frank, 2014. "Electricity and substitute natural gas generation from the conversion of wastewater treatment plant sludge," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 404-413.
    8. Wang, Liping & Chang, Yuzhi & Li, Aimin, 2019. "Hydrothermal carbonization for energy-efficient processing of sewage sludge: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 423-440.
    9. Faubert, Patrick & Barnabé, Simon & Bouchard, Sylvie & Côté, Richard & Villeneuve, Claude, 2016. "Pulp and paper mill sludge management practices: What are the challenges to assess the impacts on greenhouse gas emissions?," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 107-133.
    10. Junshen Qu & Daiying Wang & Zeyu Deng & Hejie Yu & Jianjun Dai & Xiaotao Bi, 2023. "Biochar Prepared by Microwave-Assisted Co-Pyrolysis of Sewage Sludge and Cotton Stalk: A Potential Soil Conditioner," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-18, April.
    11. Magdziarz, Aneta & Wilk, Małgorzata & Gajek, Marcin & Nowak-Woźny, Dorota & Kopia, Agnieszka & Kalemba-Rec, Izabela & Koziński, Janusz A., 2016. "Properties of ash generated during sewage sludge combustion: A multifaceted analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 85-94.
    12. Cinzia Daraio & Léopold Simar & Paul W. Wilson, 2020. "Fast and efficient computation of directional distance estimators," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 288(2), pages 805-835, May.
    13. Praspaliauskas, M. & Pedišius, N., 2017. "A review of sludge characteristics in Lithuania's wastewater treatment plants and perspectives of its usage in thermal processes," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 899-907.
    14. Beegle, Jeffrey R. & Borole, Abhijeet P., 2018. "Energy production from waste: Evaluation of anaerobic digestion and bioelectrochemical systems based on energy efficiency and economic factors," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 343-351.
    15. Vito Horvatić & Helena Bakić Begić & Davor Romić & Marko Černe & Smiljana Goreta Ban & Monika Zovko & Marija Romić, 2021. "Evaluation of Land Potential for Use of Biosolids in the Coastal Mediterranean Karst Region," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-22, October.
    16. Zhai, Yunbo & Peng, Chuan & Xu, Bibo & Wang, Tengfei & Li, Caiting & Zeng, Guangming & Zhu, Yun, 2017. "Hydrothermal carbonisation of sewage sludge for char production with different waste biomass: Effects of reaction temperature and energy recycling," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 167-174.
    17. Bădin, Luiza & Daraio, Cinzia & Simar, Léopold, 2019. "A bootstrap approach for bandwidth selection in estimating conditional efficiency measures," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 277(2), pages 784-797.
    18. Alda A. Henriques & Milton Fontes & Ana S. Camanho & Giovanna D’Inverno & Pedro Amorim & Jaime Gabriel Silva, 2022. "Performance evaluation of problematic samples: a robust nonparametric approach for wastewater treatment plants," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 315(1), pages 193-220, August.
    19. Monica Aureliana Petcu & Maria Iulia Sobolevschi-David & Stefania Cristina Curea, 2021. "Configuration of an Integrated Quality-Social Responsibility-Performance Management System in the Hospitality Industry. Case Studies: Balneary Tourism Romania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-17, June.
    20. Félix Hernández-del-Olmo & Elena Gaudioso & Raquel Dormido & Natividad Duro, 2016. "Energy and Environmental Efficiency for the N-Ammonia Removal Process in Wastewater Treatment Plants by Means of Reinforcement Learning," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-17, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:8:y:2016:i:12:p:1250-:d:84121. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.