LANDFILL SITE SELECTION FOR MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE BY USING AHP METHOD IN GIS ENVIRONMENT: WASTE MANAGEMENT DECISION-SUPPORT IN SICILY (ITALY)

Abstract

The goal of this work was to test a methodology, based on multi-criteria analysis and geographic information systems, aimed at identifying areas potentially suitable to host landfills for Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). Although the above-mentioned methodology was applied to three different areas (Western, South-western and Eastern) of Sicily, in this paper, we present the results of the western sector. The first step consisted of the division of the study area in excluded and potentially suitable sites, on the basis of the Italian current legislation. The suitable sites were subsequently re-evaluated based on additional criteria in order to choose the most suitable ones. This second step consisted of a multi-criteria analysis based on a scores and weights system. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was applied to estimate the relative importance weights of the evaluation criteria. The suitability for landfill siting was finally evaluated with the aid of a simple additive weighting method. The resulting land suitability was reported on a scale of 0 to 10, respectively, from the least suitable to the most suitable sites. In order to reveal the most suitable sites, to provide a ranking and, consequently, a quick selection, a spatial clustering process was carried out. In relation to the data obtained, several suitable areas to host sites for MSW landfill in Western Sicily were identified. The application of multi-criteria analysis, together with the use of geographic information systems, provided a powerful tool for the identification of the most suitable site among those identified.