Abstract:
Solid waste landfill site is a serious problem in the town because all solid wastes are not
dumped in the suitable areas. The geographical information system (GIS) tools for
selection of solid waste landfill site have become an advance. The study area has the
problem of solid waste landfill site identification. Landfill sitting was determined for
Jimma Town through the integration of geographic information system (GIS) tools,
weighted linear combination (WLC) analysis, and remote sensing techniques. The main
objective of this study is selection and management of prospective landfill sites using
Geographic information system (GIS) tools for Jimma Town, which are environmentally
suitable.
The main data used for this study were a spatial resolution of (DEM 30 m *30m); ground
control point (GCP) collected by ground point survey (GPS), geological map of the study
area, protected area and shape files developed from structural map of the town. Also
several parameters were collected from various sources in vector and raster GIS formats,
and then, used within the GIS-based WLC analysis to select optimum solid waste landfill
sites. Thematic maps as slope, protected area, agricultural lands, roads, river, soil map,
historical site, geology, wet land, airport and built up area were considered in this
research. Also, the trend of urban expansion within the study area was monitored using
the master plan of the towns to support the selection process of landfill sites. After
analysis of suitability of solid waste landfill site by using GIS tools and weighted
analysis methods; The final result of solid waste landfill site suitability map was
produced by overlay analyses system on GIS tools and ranked as the value given
1;unsuitable,2;less suitable,3;moderate suitable and 4;highly suitable sites of the town
were determined. The results shows that 16.13% of the town covers unsuitable for
municipal solid waste landfill site; 74.64% less suitable; 7.42% moderately suitable; and
2.02% most suitable. The most suitable site for solid waste landfill sites fall where free of
environmental, social and health risks. The GIS tools analysis approach is appropriate
for selection of municipal solid waste landfill site. Finally, three sites were suggested
taking into the consideration the environmental, social and economic variables applied in
the GIS-based WLC analysis.
