Multi Criteria and Landfill Site Selection Using Gis: A Case Study From Palestine

Shortage of land for waste disposal and inappropriate landfill site is one of the biggest problems in most of large urban areas. Therefore more efforts are needed to overcome this problem. Most of the landfill sites in Palestine are selected randomly, and waste is burned and not treated, which impacts nature and human. The main aim of this research is to determine a suitable landfill site with less impact on environment. In this research, a potential site for an appropriate landfill area for Ramallah Governorate was determined by using geographic information system (GIS) as a tool to aid the decision making process. To achieve this purpose, thematic layers and different tabular data such as topography, land use, roads network, ground and surface water, infrastructure, and urban areas were collected from different institutions and governmental agencies in Palestine. Thematic maps were used to create the vulnerability map for the area and the result was compiled to the buffer zones around sensitive areas. By using multi-criteria analysis, a candidate site was allocated taking into consideration the sensitive areas in order to find out the best location for the anticipated regional landfill site.