Neutrosophic CEBOM-MACONT model for sustainable management of end-of-life tires

Management of end-of-life tires (ELTs) has evolved into an important sustainability requirement that should follow circular economy principles. It is increasingly important to find environmentally-friendly and cost-effective solutions for ELT management, particularly in the context of large freight transportation companies. Selecting the most sustainable solution from the set of available ELT management strategies, such as retreading, recycling, energy recovery, and landfilling, presents a decision-making challenge for authorities. This study aims to introduce a practical evaluation framework comprised of strategy alternatives and key decision-making criteria to support transportation companies in managing ELT flows. Also, the research introduces an advanced two-stage neutrosophic decision support model to solve the addressed problem and reveal the most sustainable strategy. The model is based on the integration of the cross-entropy-based optimization model (CEBOM) method and mixed aggregation by comprehensive normalization technique (MACONT) under the type-2 neutrosophic number (T2NN) environment. Prominent features of T2NN-CEBOM are hybrid weighting sub-framework and processing controllability. Distinguished characteristics of T2NN-MACONT are average referencing, triple-normalization support, modeling of risk attitude behavior, adjustable ordering schemes, and an advanced scoring system. The real-life study of one of the largest German freight transportation companies that operates along an important European transit route offers practical insights for decision-makers when evaluating ELT management strategies. The research findings show that retreading is the most sustainable solution. The eight sensitivity analyses confirm the high robustness of the introduced decision-support model. The comparative analysis reveals the superiority of T2NN-CEBOM-MACONT for employment in practical settings.