A GIS-Based Multi-Criteria Evaluation of Landfill Site Selection in Lahore, Pakistan

In Pakistan, solid waste management (SWM) is considered to be a serious problem, with most of the hazardousand non-hazardous waste being dumped in landfills without any segregation. The key objective of our research was to select a suitable landfill site that is environmentally sound, economically feasible and socially acceptable for metropolitan Lahore. Lahore District is located in one of the worlds largest fluvial plains, namely the Indo-Gangetic meandering rivers system plain. There is only one functional landfill site situated in the northern part of the city. Multi-criteria decision aid (MCDA) and geographical information system were combined and used in this research that blends two aggregation methods: weight linear combination (WCL) and assigning criteria weights. The analytical hierarchy process (AHP) pair-wise comparison method was applied for assigning weights to the 9 delineated criteria. The result of the analysis show that 7 (6.26% highly suitable) possible sites are available that are greater than 50 ha in area. The selected potential landfill locations were contrasted with each other in connection to their land size, distance from nearby settlements and from the city center. The result shows that site number 6, with a weight of 0.22 (22.21%), is the most suitable location for a landfill site in Lahore. In addition, landfill site 4 is considered the least preferable site due to its weight. This site has the least environmental and social impacts, as it is at a reasonable distance from settlements and is at the same time comparatively closer to the city center. This study highlights the importance of the landfill siting process for the fluvial plain and helps in decision making.