Solid waste disposal site selection analysis using geospatial technology in Dessie city Ethiopia

Urban environments, especially metropolitan places like Dessie with a high population, result in an increased output of waste. Waste pickers have collected the solid waste from the main road and the immediate area for truck dumping in the river downstream to Kombolcha town, all of these waste materials were deposed, and open burned in the final destination. The best way to deal with this issue is to find a proper waste disposal location in the area as the aim of the paper. To be justified, although, a number of previous related studies have been conducted with their main focus on the physical parameter to identify landfill suitability sites. In this study, not only consider the physical parameters but, also socio-economic parameters were considered, and it is still crucial to generate site-specific information. As a result, by choosing acceptable waste disposal sites using geospatial technology, the study has been undertaken to address the issues of environmental deterioration and the spread of infectious illnesses that are caused by incorrect garbage dumping and open burning in the City. A mixed research design was employed for this research. Since all the data used were processed through the application of software and formulas to produce the result in the map and numerical values which needs a detailed narration. Land use, land cover, slope, drainage, places of worship, groundwater wells, schools, soil, urban core, and population were taken into consideration. These elements were examined in terms of their parametric compatibility. To create a study waste suitability map using geospatial technology, all of the parametric appropriateness was weighted in the overlay analysis according to their respective values, which were obtained from the analytical hierarchal process (AHP). The categories included unsuitable, less suitable, moderately suitable, suitable, and highly suitable. Approximately 71% of the research area was unsuitable for the disposal of solid waste, while the remaining 29% was suitable for the disposal of solid waste concerning drainage, the weighted suitability map shows unsuitable areas were 40.8%, less-suitable areas were 17.6%, moderately suitable areas were 10%, suitable areas were 13%, and highly suitable areas were 18.6%. Existing potentially appropriate and highly suited waste disposal sites were located away from built-up, urban centers, religious institutions, and schools where high population pressure to reduce the detrimental influence on the environment and human health. Therefore, the study results strongly suggested that the current waste treatment area should be avoided and planted in highly suitable and suitable areas.