Title: Eco-efficiency analysis and pollutant emission quota allocation of Chinese paper mills

Authors: Yiwen Bian, Feng Yang

Addresses: Sydney Institute of Language & Commerce, Shanghai University, Jiading District, Shanghai 201800, PR China. ' Management School, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, PR China

Abstract: The objective of this paper is to develop an approach based on Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to address the eco-efficiency analysis and improvement problem of paper mills along the Huai River in China. In the proposed model, a system|s overall eco-efficiency is evaluated considering undesirable outputs and pollutant (undesirable output) emission quotas simultaneously. Based on the developed model, a pollutant emission quota allocation approach is introduced, i.e. the pollutant emission quota is a type of decision variable in the proposed model and it is allocated to Decision Making Units (DMUs) by optimising it when solving the proposed model. The approach, which is applied to 32 paper mills along the Huai River in China, indicates that the paper mill system|s overall eco-efficiency is effectively improved.

Keywords: DEA; data envelopment analysis; eco-efficiency; emission quota allocation; pollutant emissions; China; paper mills; water quality; water pollution.

DOI: 10.1504/IJENVH.2008.020660

International Journal of Environment and Health, 2008 Vol.2 No.2, pp.198 - 208

Published online: 08 Oct 2008 *

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