Suitability analysis for municipal landfill site selection using fuzzy analytic hierarchy process and geospatial technique

One of the most important challenges in solid waste management throughout the world is selection of suitable landfill sites. It is essential for solid waste management, because unscientific dumping and landfilling of waste could negatively impact the environment and human health. This research presents a GIS-based multi-criteria decision support approach for assessing the suitability analysis for landfill site selection in Kolkata Municipal Corporation, India. In highly urbanized areas of Kolkata, there is stress regarding the location of potential landfill sites, because existing waste dumping ground, i.e., Dhapa have no longer space to hold waste after 2 or 3 years. The availability of land is also a major tension than financial assistance in the study area. Therefore, the present study developed a methodological framework for locating suitable landfill candidate sites and selecting the best alternatives. Thus, 20 relevant alternatives were selected and relative weight calculated using the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process. The geographic information system was considered to arrange the spatial and aspatial data. The alternatives of all criteria were rated from 1-5 scale indicating lowest to highest suitability for landfill. The weighted linear combination was performed between different criteria for modeling suitable candidate sites. The results revealed that throughout the study area, initially, 16 candidate sites were identified based on geospatial analysis, but out of them, 13 sites cannot be accepted for a landfill site due to current land use, public acceptance, transportation, and local environmental issues. Only three suitable sites can be considered for landfilling, although these are also not completely satisfying the environmental concern. However, landfill site is also essential; otherwise, it will appear as more adverse impact. Therefore, with little compromising with the environmental component, the engineered plan can be designed for the sanitary landfill on specific sites that recommended in this suitability analysis.