Solid waste disposal site selection using geospatial information technologies and fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP): a case study in Bandar Bushehr, Iran

The Bandar Bushehr city is located on the northern coast of the Persian Gulf, which due to generated 170 tons per day per capita municipal and household solid waste, today there is a serious problem of landfill of municipal solid waste. The current waste disposal site is in the area, 4 km far from the Bandar Bushehr city. The site has been used without any environmental considerations and the unavailability of land is also a major tension in the study area. Therefore, the present study developed a methodological framework for locating suitable landfill candidate sites and selecting the best alternatives. Thus, 11 input map layers into 7 relevant alternatives were selected and relative weight was calculated using the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process. The alternatives of all criteria were rated from a 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 minimum required landfill area for 10, 20, 50, and 100 years was selected. The results revealed that throughout the study area, initially, 8 candidate sites were identified based on geospatial analysis, but out of them, 7, 3, 1, and 3 sites for a period of 10, 20, 50, and 100 years, respectively, suitable sites can be accepted for a landfill site due to current land use, public acceptance, transportation, and local environmental issues, although these are also not completely satisfying the environmental concern. However, the 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 specific sites that are recommended in this suitability analysis.