Evaluation of Solid Wastes in Khartoum State and Selection of Landfills Sites Using GIS Technique

Abstract

This thesis aims to estimate the solid waste by using GIS in evaluating the situation of the landfills in Khartoum, and then plan and select the most suitable sites for such landfills on the basis of specific conditions and criteria. It estimates the rate of solid waste for five years on the basis of the gross domestic production (GDP) and the physical components of solid waste in Khartoum. By the application of the typical densities of those components, the researcher has got the volume of the solid waste to be disposed of taking into consideration the relationship between solid waste volume and population growth and concluded that the volume of solid waste in Khartoum will be about 3.257.921 m3 a year in 2018. The accumulated volume of the waste during five years will be about 14.216.731 m3, whereas the reduction rate will be about 46% if sound recirculation operations are used. As regards determining the landfills, the researcher has used the available data of the case study and applied GIS technique and a set of criteria such as (distance from urban and rural areas, distance from road, valleys, surface water, rainfall rate, underground water, land slope and land uses) and derived the required criteria reverting them to maps and giving them ranks as per every criterion starting from rank-1 which represents the unsuitable areas and rank-10 which represents the suitable areas. Then, the researcher has given the effective criterion a greater weight than the less effective criterion. By collecting those weights, the Model Builder has been built, deriving a map representing the most suitable locations for landfill in Khartoum. The researcher has concluded that the existing landfills in Khartoum (Teiba and Abu Walidat) are unstable because they do not observe the health and environmental standards, exempt for Hattab landfill. After the application of various criteria by using GIS, the researcher has concluded that there are 11 suitable locations for landfills which are shown on the suitable maps where number 5 and 6 represent the most suitable locations according to their distance from the city center. The researcher has recommended that GIS must be used in waste management and health and environmental standards must be applied in the planning of landfills