Site selection for waste disposal through Spatial Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis

This article deals with the application of spatial multiple criteria evaluation concepts and methods to support the decision-making process for site selection for waste disposal. The process makes use of a recently developed Spatial Multiple Criteria Evaluation (SMCE) module, integrated into ITC’s existing geographic information system called “ILWIS”. This module supports several compensatory and non-compensatory approaches, allowing inclusion of the spatial and thematic priority of decision makers. To demonstrate the process, a landfill site selection problem around the town of Chinchina, located in the Central Cordillera of the Andes in Colombia (South America), is used as an example. Based on different objectives, a spatial data set is being made available consisting of several maps (slope, land use, geological, landslide distribution etc.) that is used for modeling the site selection process. This study makes use of the planning and decision making framework that is developed at ITC in two major phases. In phase one, Spatial Multiple Criteria Evaluation is used to find potential sites (“design of alternative solutions”). In phase two, the potential sites are evaluated using technical and socio-economic attributes to make the final recommendation of the site (“choice of alternative options”).