Identification of suitable future municipal solid waste disposal sites for the Metropolitan Mersin (SE Turkey) using AHP and GIS techniques

Abstract

The municipal solid waste disposal site (MSWDS) selection process is a complex multi-criteria decision-making problem, which requires consideration of a wide spectrum of physical information, legal requirements, and constraints that should satisfy the expectations of a number of stakeholders with conflicting opinions or interests. In this paper, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and geographic information system (GIS) techniques were jointly used to identify suitable MSWDSs for the Metropolitan Mersin (SE Turkey) utilizing 12 decision criteria (i.e., lithology, aquifer type, distance from lineaments, distance from landslides, land use, distance from settlements, distance from roads, distance from surface waters, distance from springs and wells, elevation, aspect, and slope). For assessment of site suitability, selected decision criteria (i.e., raster-based thematic map layers) were integrated in the GIS environment using the weighted linear combination aggregation method after standardizing and assigning weights to each criterion using AHP technique. The classified suitability map indicates that 0.73 % of the study area is most suitable, 2.75 % is suitable, 3.39 % is moderately suitable, 4.77 % is poorly suitable, 3.47 % is least suitable, and 84.89 % is completely unsuitable (i.e., restricted areas) for siting MSWDSs. Before the final decision is made, detailed field investigations must be carried out at the candidate sites to protect water resources and land.