Landfill site selection of Sari city using analytic network process model

The existing landfill site for Sari city is situated in an unhygienic manner in a village, at the southernmost point of the provincial capital. Unfortunately, this location has led to numerous environmental incidents affecting the local residents. In this study, a multi-criteria approach was employed using analytic network analysis (ANP) to identify the optimal waste landfill site. The evaluation process involved considering 24 layers of information, including geology, engineering geology (such as erosion, lithology, soil science, and seismicity), hydrology, hydrogeology (including rivers, dams, and well depths), topography (elevation and slope), socio-economic factors (distance from urban areas, villages, main roads, side roads, mines, and airports), climate (rainfall), and environmental aspects (protected areas and land use). Based on the findings, we selected five potential locations, with ‘Site 1’ in the southeast of Sari city receiving the highest average score and being recommended as the most suitable landfill site.