An eco-friendly evaluation for locating wheat processing plants: an integrated approach based on interval type-2 fuzzy AHP and COPRAS

Site selection for organizations is a complex and unstructured problem that must be analyzed carefully and properly since a localization error could drive to bankruptcy. This problem has been discussed widely and effectively using multi-criteria decision-making methods in a manufacturing context, but it has been little studied in the agricultural industry. The aim of this study is to proposing a methodological approach to evaluate the fifty states in the United States (US) in terms of wheat processing plant locations. To do so, a literature review is searched to determine the ten sub-criteria under financial, environmental, and spatial dimensions. To overcome the uncertainty of experts' judgment in criteria prioritization, interval type-2 fuzzy (IT2F)-analytic hierarchy process is used. The method of complex proportional assessment of alternatives is used to obtain the final rank of states. The results and verification of the methodology are carried out throughout a sensitivity analysis of the weights. The results of sensitivity analysis indicated that when financial aspects are focused upon, California is the best alternative, followed by Texas and Oklahoma. In addition, from the environmental and spatial perspectives, Vermont and California are the best choices, respectively. The findings of this study can provide useful information to wheat plant decision-makers and serve as a reference for US policy.