Locating Landfills in Arid Environment

Protection of the environment from solid waste hazards is becoming a serious problem. Different laws and legislations had been put into practice for this purpose. The effect of solid waste in developing countries with limited financial and natural resources and high population growth rate is more severe. To overcome these difficulties, prudent management system for solid waste is required. Furthermore, solid waste disposal site should be selected using scientific criteria to prevent any harmful effect on local communities and the environment. Criteria for solid waste disposal dump site for arid and semi-arid regions should be selected in accordance with well-known international requirements that suit the local conditions. These criteria can be used to select the best suitable solid waste dump site using remote sensing and geographic information system techniques. The selected sites are harmless to human life, natural resources and the environment. The same can be achieved when dumping hazardous solid waste. In all cases however, priorities of the site selection criteria should meet the existing geological, meteorological and environmental conditions.