An Urban Solid Waste Landfill Site Evaluation Process Incorporating GIS in Local Scale Environment: A Case of Ahvaz City, Iran

Document Type : Original Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Environmental Management, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Environmental Sciences, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Landfill is one of the primary methods for urban solid waste disposal. In order to reduce the
environmental adverse effects and to protect the public health and human welfare, evaluating the landfill is
utmost importance. In this research work evaluation procedure for the current condition of Ahvaz city urban
solid waste landfill site with criteria of Local Screening Method (LSM) is outlined. In this method, with
combining GIS technologies and site investigation the main criteria are physical conditions, economical factors,
and land use. These 14 criteria were used into the overlaying technique to determine suitability conditions in
the study region. The obtained results indicated that Ahvaz solid waste landfill should be graded on a scale of
very weak condition in local scale and ranked in order of in appropriate. The main reasons for the occurrence
of this condition was considered as land purchase ability, lack of landfill cover values of natural vegetation in
public view, difficulty in sampling and high groundwater levels inside of the study site.

Keywords