Presenting an environmental performance evaluation model for gas refineries: A case study in the South Pars Gas Complex, Iran

Background: Controlling and validating the environmental performance of organizations, is a major problem that has been stated in the international standard ISO 14031. The aim of this study was to present a model for evaluating the environmental performance of Iran's gas refineries using the environmental performance evaluation (EPE) method, based on the operational performance index (OPI) and management performance index (MPI). This case study was conducted in the ninth refinery of the South Pars Gas Complex (SPGC), Bushehr province, Iran, during 2019-2020. Methods: The research method comprises two stages. The first stage was distinguishing the standards and markers of the MPI and OPI using the Fluffy Delphi strategy and the second one was focusing on and relegating loads to the measures and pointers using the logical analytical hierarchy process (AHP) prior to confirming the outcomes by applying the TOPSIS. Results: The total normal scores of the total OPIt and OPTt were obtained to be 2.3409 and 2.2647, respectively. Considering these coefficients, the organization is balanced in terms of the environmental performance. The implementation steps of the TOPSIS method in the ninth refinery (A1) with the first (A2), second (A3), and third (A4) refineries, which had the same extraction indices of OPIt and MPIt, were ranked as A1 > A3 > A4 > A2, respectively. Conclusion: Petrochemical industries have the potential to cause adverse effects on the environment due to the nature of activities and effluents production, emissions, and hazardous wastes. However, they can increase their weight to be more competitive and reach the ranks of mature organizations by planning on important indices.