Identification of Optimal Landfill Sites for Solid Waste disposal in Wukro City, Northern Ethiopia, Using AHP, Remote Sensing, and GIS Techniques

Urban areas produce vast quantities of solid waste due to economic activity, and managing this waste's environmental and socio-economic consequences is a major challenge for municipalities in many developing nations. Furthermore, the improper selection of waste disposal sites exacerbates these problems. The purpose of this study is to assess the implications of the existing solid waste disposal site in Wukro City and to select a new site that meets specific criteria. The impact of the existing solid waste disposal site was determined by analyzing questions from sample respondents in SPSS 21. The results showed that 83.5% of the sample respondents indicated negative implications, 12.1% indicated positive implications, and 4.4% were unsure of the implications. A new site selection was performed in ArcGIS 10.7 using a weighted overlay analysis based on ten suitability criteria. The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) determined parameter weights through pairwise comparisons. The resulting suitability index map indicates that a substantial portion of the study area is highly suitable for solid waste disposal, with "very high" and "high" suitability categories covering 680.6 hectares (3.545%) and 5,922.1 hectares (30.85%), respectively. Conversely, areas deemed unsuitable for solid waste disposal due to various environmental, economic, and social constraints were classified as "very low" (429.26 hectares, 2.24%) and "low" (6,501.25 hectares, 33.87%) suitability. The analysis also identified a moderately suitable area encompassing 5,663.44 hectares (29.5%) of the study area. The results and recommendations of this study can be used to improve solid waste management.