Landfill Site Selection by Weighted Overlay Technique: Case Study of Al-Kufa, Iraq

Landfill siting is a hard and complex process. For this reason, it is considered as one of the major problems in waste management. This is due to the fact that a number of factors are involved within the process such as such as inhabitants' growth, rapid economic growth, living standards improvements, etc. In Iraq, landfill siting does not follow environmental regulations. Al-Ku facity located is located south-western part of Iraq (area of 550 km(2) and inhabitants 372,760). Existing landfills are not selected according to the environmental standards. Landfill site that is required was achieved using a multi- criteria decision analysis (MCDA) and spatial overlay analysis using a geographic information system (GIS). Many factors were considered in the siting process; including geology, water supplies resources, urban centers, sensitive sites, and wells. AHP (analytic hierarchy process) method was used in weighting the criteria used. The result showed that there are six sites most suitable covering an area about (113) km(2).