Landfill site selection using GIS and multi-criteria decision-making: case study of a region in Morocco

In Morocco, landfilling is the most common method of municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal. The first step in a controlled landfill project is a site selection in order to minimise the impact on the environment and health. Almost all of the waste generated in the Agadir Ida Outanae and Inezgane-Ait Melloul prefectures is buried in the Tamelest landfill, which has several problems as under-sizing of leachate storage ponds and olfactory nuisance. It becomes necessary to find a new site to implement a new controlled landfill. In this study, the selection of the new site of sanitary landfill is obtained thanks to development of a geographic information systems (GIS), assessment of free surfaces and a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM). A field visit confirmed the results of the study; the site is located in the municipality of Amsekroud, which is part of the Agadir Ida Outanane prefecture. The results of the multi-criteria analysis were confirmed by the VIROK method.