Locating of the Optimal Site for Construction Waste Disposal using Weighted Linear Combination‎ Method; A Case Study in Isfahan, Iran

One of the consequences of the increasing urban development is an increased production of urban waste including waste from construction activities. Therefore, planning based on management principles is necessary to organize this kind of waste. No previous studies have been conducted on suitable landfill site selection for construction wastes in Isfahan, Iran. Thus, this study attempts to determine land suitability in terms of construction waste disposal in Isfahan through weighted linear combination (WLC) method and Geographic Information System (GIS).
The present study was a practical and developmental study. In order to identify the best locations for disposal of construction wastes in the study area, 19 data layers were classified in two main branches of ecological and socio-economic factors. Then, weighting of each layer was performed using expert views in the form of pairwise comparison matrices (Analytical Hierarchy Process). Moreover, the layers were standardized using the relevant fuzzy logic model and fuzzy membership functions. Finally, the map of land suitability for construction landfill was weighted by overlaying of the standardized map layers, and 16 limitation layers were obtained.
Findings: Classification of the final construction landfill suitability map indicated that more than 95% of the study area was completely unsuitable for construction landfill. Areas with the highest suitability constituted less than 2% of the city area. Finally, 4 areas were identified as alternative construction landfills in Isfahan.
The efficacy of GIS in the implementation of multi-criteria decision-making methods for landfill site selection and combination of different qualitative and quantitative criteria was approved in the current study. Determination of only 1.78% of the study area as completely suitable for construction disposal reflects the high sensitivity of the WLC model and the limitation of the area for waste disposal.