A q-rung orthopair fuzzy MARCOS method using novel score function and its application to solid waste management

The main purpose of the current study is to explore a novel q-rung orthopair fuzzy score function and extend the measurement of alternatives and ranking according to the compromise solution (MARCOS) method with unknown weight information to the context of q-rung orthopair fuzzy numbers (q-ROFNs). For this, first, the drawbacks of the existing score functions are highlighted via several solid examples. Then, to fill the gaps of the existing ones, a novel score function and its relevant characteristics are delineated. To determine the objective weights of criteria, q-rung orthopair fuzzy criteria importance through intercriteria correlation (CRITIC) method is modeled based on the derived weights of decision-makers (DMs), standard deviation, and correlation coefficient. Following that, the q-rung orthopair fuzzy MARCOS approach is established to cope with multi-criteria group decision-making (MCGDM) problems. Later, a case study of solid waste management is addressed to show the practicality of the presented method. Lastly, the derived results are validated through three phases: two sensitivity analyses, rank reversal phenomena, and comparative analysis.