Site selection for establishing a mill producing fluting paper from agriculture wastes using AHP (Casestudy: Mazandaran province)

Appropriate location plays a significant role for a plant to remain competitive in the market. It should be chosen in a way that the strategical advantage over rival plants is achievable. This paper aims to select an optimum site for a mill producing fluting paper from agricultural residue using hierarchical analysis process.
After the necessary studies, the factors affecting site selection for fluting paper mill in Mazandaran province were identified, and criteria and sub-criteria hierarchy was designed based on profit and loss. Finally, weight value of each of them was determined through Expert Choice software using questionnaires and date analysis. Final priority ranking of the alternatives was performed based on the ratio of benefits to cost (B/C) to choose the best alternative from eastern, western and central parts of Mazandaran.
Findings: Results showed that material and production, economic and infrastructure were respectively the best criteria. Moreover, the sub-criteria related to raw material were found to be the most effective factor.
The results indicate the highest ratio of benefits to costs for the eastern part of Mazandaran which is, as a result, the best location for establishing a mill producing fluting paper from agricultural residues in the province.