Municipal Solid Waste Disposal Site Selection Using Remote Sensing Technology and AHP Process (Case Study: Khesht city, Fars Province, Iran)

Abstract

The design and implementation of the municipal waste management system aim to solve the urban issues and ultimately contribute to the citizens' health and welfare. The first step in this system is to select a site for the safe disposal of wastes. This survey aimed to select the most suitable landfill site for municipal solid waste using the geographic information system (GIS) and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) model following the environmental, economic, and engineering criteria. Therefore, by reviewing the literature and backgrounds, the parameters required for locating the landfill site were extracted, and the most important ones (15 sub-criteria) were selected and divided into four groups. The results showed that the sub-criterion of distance to the river with the weight of 0.218 was identified as the most critical parameter, followed by groundwater depth. In this way, the flooding parameter with the weight of 0.010 was considered the least important variable. In addition, it was found that the moderate suitability class with 50% of the area had the highest area, and the very high suitability with 0.8% had the lowest area. The inconsistency rate was equal to 0.04, which illustrates the high consistency of matrices. Then, the overlaying was carried out, and three sites were determined as the best place for a landfill in Khesht county.

Optimal Landfill Site Selection for Solid Waste of Three Municipalities Based on Boolean and Fuzzy Methods: A Case Study in Kermanshah Province, Iran

“…Although landfilling is one of the most broadly used and cost-effective disposal technologies, it requires detailed and wide evaluation, which takes into account the necessities of governmental and environmental regulations [6,20]. The landfill site selection depends on the specific factors which are encountered in a special significance and even have a limitation in the selection of landfills [21,22]. To assess, design, and select a suitable landfill site, extensive research has to be conducted, and all related factors, which include land use, geology, elevation, slope, distance from the residential area, fault, river, protected areas, and the road, should be considered [23][24][25].…”

“…To assess, design, and select a suitable landfill site, extensive research has to be conducted, and all related factors, which include land use, geology, elevation, slope, distance from the residential area, fault, river, protected areas, and the road, should be considered [23][24][25]. In other words, selecting an optimal landfill site requires multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) [22,26,27]. Many landfill site selection studies have been conducted in Iran, such as in Fars province [28], in Naein [29], in Rudbar [30], in Ahvaz [31], in Naqadeh [32], and in Gilan city [33].…”

“…In other words, selecting an optimal landfill site requires multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) [22,26,27]. Many landfill site selection studies have been conducted in Iran, such as in Fars province [28], in Naein [29], in Rudbar [30], in Ahvaz [31], in Naqadeh [32], and in Gilan city [33].…”

“…Therefore, according to the demand for landfill sites in these cities and their proximity to each other, the best landfill was chosen outside of the residential area that has the least negative environmental impact. Furthermore, based on previous studies, the most important parameters for selecting a landfill site are as follows: residential areas [28], land-use type [46], faults, and water bodies' proximity [41], land slope [1], elevation [47], geology [5], protected areas [6], and roads [16]. The hypothesis of this research is that landfill site selection depends on driving factors, such as elevation, slope, geology, land use, distance from the river, road, residential area, protected area, and faults, and that by using GIS-based methods and the MCDM approach, suitable areas can be spotted.…”