Landfill site selection for Kerbala municipal solid wastes by using geographical information system techniques

Abstract EN

One of the serious and growing potential problems in most large urban areas is the shortage of land for waste disposal.

Although there are some efforts to reduce and recover the waste, disposal in landfills is still the most common method for solid wastes destination.

Optimized siting decision reduces negative effects to residents living in its vicinity, thereby enhancing the overall sustainability associated with the life cycle of a landfill.

In this study, candidate sites for an appropriate landfill area in Kerbala are determined by using the integration of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA).

Eight input digital map layers including urban centers, Hamlets, industrial areas, sub roads, wetlands, pipe line, soil characteristics, and surface water are produced using a geographical information system.

Simple additive weighing method (SAW) within (MCDA) is used to analyze the prepared maps and produce final suitability map.

According to the digital maps produced by this method, the analysis results in selection of one landfill site located in the north of Kerbala city.

The area of landfill site selected is 6,800,000 m2 and, its volume is 20,400,000 m3.