Landfill Site Selection Using GIS Based Multicriteria Evaluation Technique in Harar City, Eastern Ethiopia

Solid waste disposal is one of the challenging components in integrated solid waste management. Particularly the problem is prominent in cities with rapid population growth and waste generation. Harar, a capital city of Harari regional state located in the eastern part of Ethiopia, covers an area of...

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Main Authors: Elsai Mati Asefa, Yohannes Tefera Damtew, Kefelegn Bayu Barasa
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2021-10-01
Series:Environmental Health Insights
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/11786302211053174
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author Elsai Mati Asefa
Yohannes Tefera Damtew
Kefelegn Bayu Barasa
author_facet Elsai Mati Asefa
Yohannes Tefera Damtew
Kefelegn Bayu Barasa
author_sort Elsai Mati Asefa
collection DOAJ
description Solid waste disposal is one of the challenging components in integrated solid waste management. Particularly the problem is prominent in cities with rapid population growth and waste generation. Harar, a capital city of Harari regional state located in the eastern part of Ethiopia, covers an area of 19.5 km 2 and has a total population of 270 000. Despite the fastest population growth of the city, it doesn’t have a landfill site to accommodate the waste generated and open dumping is in full practice. As an integral part of a solid waste management plan, the construction of a landfill has been suggested by the city municipality. However, the multi-dimensional and conflicting aspect of landfill sitting, which involves environmental, social, technical, and economic considerations, challenges the location of a suitable landfill site. In the current study, we have applied geographic information system (GIS) and analytical hierarchy process (AHP) multi-criteria decision analysis to select a landfill site through minimizing conflicting interests. Environmental and socio-economic factors including well water, distance from residence, land use and land cover, elevation, slope, and wind direction were weighted to develop a suitability index for landfill siting. Experts’ opinion was obtained to rank the aforementioned factors. The required landfill size was determined based on population growth, waste generation rate, and waste volume/year. Accordingly, the suitability index resulted in 3% of the area as highly suitable, and the rest 0.29%, 14.18%, 52.75%, and 29.8% classified as unsuitable, least suitable, moderately suitable, and suitable, respectively. Considering the future trend of waste generation, 16 ha of land located in the eastern part of the city was selected as a candidate landfill site with all the required suitability. The results of this study can be used as an input for decision making in siting landfill for Harar city.
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spelling doaj.art-ebd0fe6639f640a08ede794cf3e28a932022-12-21T18:38:32ZengSAGE PublishingEnvironmental Health Insights1178-63022021-10-011510.1177/11786302211053174Landfill Site Selection Using GIS Based Multicriteria Evaluation Technique in Harar City, Eastern EthiopiaElsai Mati AsefaYohannes Tefera DamtewKefelegn Bayu BarasaSolid waste disposal is one of the challenging components in integrated solid waste management. Particularly the problem is prominent in cities with rapid population growth and waste generation. Harar, a capital city of Harari regional state located in the eastern part of Ethiopia, covers an area of 19.5 km 2 and has a total population of 270 000. Despite the fastest population growth of the city, it doesn’t have a landfill site to accommodate the waste generated and open dumping is in full practice. As an integral part of a solid waste management plan, the construction of a landfill has been suggested by the city municipality. However, the multi-dimensional and conflicting aspect of landfill sitting, which involves environmental, social, technical, and economic considerations, challenges the location of a suitable landfill site. In the current study, we have applied geographic information system (GIS) and analytical hierarchy process (AHP) multi-criteria decision analysis to select a landfill site through minimizing conflicting interests. Environmental and socio-economic factors including well water, distance from residence, land use and land cover, elevation, slope, and wind direction were weighted to develop a suitability index for landfill siting. Experts’ opinion was obtained to rank the aforementioned factors. The required landfill size was determined based on population growth, waste generation rate, and waste volume/year. Accordingly, the suitability index resulted in 3% of the area as highly suitable, and the rest 0.29%, 14.18%, 52.75%, and 29.8% classified as unsuitable, least suitable, moderately suitable, and suitable, respectively. Considering the future trend of waste generation, 16 ha of land located in the eastern part of the city was selected as a candidate landfill site with all the required suitability. The results of this study can be used as an input for decision making in siting landfill for Harar city.https://doi.org/10.1177/11786302211053174
spellingShingle Elsai Mati Asefa
Yohannes Tefera Damtew
Kefelegn Bayu Barasa
Landfill Site Selection Using GIS Based Multicriteria Evaluation Technique in Harar City, Eastern Ethiopia
Environmental Health Insights
title Landfill Site Selection Using GIS Based Multicriteria Evaluation Technique in Harar City, Eastern Ethiopia
title_full Landfill Site Selection Using GIS Based Multicriteria Evaluation Technique in Harar City, Eastern Ethiopia
title_fullStr Landfill Site Selection Using GIS Based Multicriteria Evaluation Technique in Harar City, Eastern Ethiopia
title_full_unstemmed Landfill Site Selection Using GIS Based Multicriteria Evaluation Technique in Harar City, Eastern Ethiopia
title_short Landfill Site Selection Using GIS Based Multicriteria Evaluation Technique in Harar City, Eastern Ethiopia
title_sort landfill site selection using gis based multicriteria evaluation technique in harar city eastern ethiopia
url https://doi.org/10.1177/11786302211053174
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AT kefelegnbayubarasa landfillsiteselectionusinggisbasedmulticriteriaevaluationtechniqueinhararcityeasternethiopia