Municipal solid waste landfill site selection using COCOSO, MAIRCA, MARCOS methods and geographic information system: a case study of Yazd

With rapid population growth, industrial expansion, and accelerated urbanization, urban areas have increasingly faced challenges in solid waste management. Given the substantial volume of waste transferred to landfill sites, selecting an appropriate municipal waste landfill site is crucial due to its significant role in achieving sustainable development goals and controlling environmental pollution. This research focuses on identifying a suitable landfill model for arid and desert regions, aiming to recommend the most appropriate waste landfill site in Yazd city in 2021. In this descriptive study, the Delphi method and a survey of environmental experts were employed to score the selection criteria. Subsequently, the weight of each criterion was calculated using the Best-Worst Method (BWM). LINGO software was utilized to analyze and evaluate the weighted criteria provided by experts and to develop localized criteria specific to the study area. A suitability map was generated using ArcGIS 10.8, and the most suitable landfill sites in Yazd city were prioritized using the COmplex COmbination of criteria based on the SOlid waste (COCOSO), Measurement of Alternatives and Ranking according to COmpromise Solution (MARCOS), and Multi-Attributive Ideal-Real Comparative Analysis (MAIRCA) methods, all of which are multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) techniques. The existing landfill site and proposed areas were evaluated against three national and five international standards. Eight potential sites were selected, and after prioritization through MCDM models, one site emerged as the most suitable for municipal waste disposal due to favorable characteristics such as its distance from residential and agricultural areas, slope, and accessible road infrastructure. The study’s findings indicate that decision-making methods, given their precision in presenting results, can serve as effective alternatives to traditional weighting and ranking approaches. According to the study, approximately 0.3% of the area, based on the fuzzy method, and about 15% using the Boolean method, were deemed completely suitable or suitable for waste landfill sites within the study area. This indicates that only a small fraction of land in arid and desert regions is appropriate for urban waste disposal, highlighting the significant limitations imposed by such environments. It is recommended that, considering the proposed model, other regions with sensitive and fragile ecosystems, particularly arid and desert areas, adopt strategies such as zero waste and integrated waste management in comprehensive plans to reduce waste volume and minimize reliance on landfilling.