Suitability analysis for landfill site selection: A case study on Kamuli district

A landfill is one of the most cost-effective methods for solid waste management; however, its improper siting and management can lead to environmental and health risks. This study aimed to identify sites with low pollution risk, easy accessibility, affordable land acquisition, and effective operation that can serve as landfill locations in Kamuli District. Ten factors—including soil type, water bodies, wetlands, gazetted areas, lineaments, roads, slope, built-up areas, land price, and land use were used to select suitable landfill areas. A Geographical Information System (GIS)-based multicriteria decision-making method was employed to perform the spatial decision-making process by grouping factors into environmental, socio-economic, and geographical criteria. The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) of pairwise comparisons estimated percentage weights to indicate the relevance of each factor to overall suitability. Input layers for the factors were processed and combined in ArcGIS 10.8 software using Weighted Linear Combination to obtain an overall landfill suitability map. Results indicate that 474 km² (30.42%), 6.7 km² (0.43%), 0.6 km² (0.04%), 249.2 km² (15.99%), 778.9 km² (49.99%), and 48.7 km² (3.13%) of the total district area are categorized as unavailable, unsuitable, slightly suitable, moderately suitable, suitable, and highly suitable, respectively. Additionally, highly suitable areas had to be more than 20 hectares in size and usable for at least 25 years. Candidate landfill sites with the shortest haul distances of 4.2 km, 6.0 km, and 8.0 km from the largest waste-generating town in Kamuli District were selected. While environmental factors are crucial, haul distances significantly influence landfill siting decisions.