Landfills Needs Assessment in Gaza Strip and Sites Selection Using GIS

Abstract

Currently, Gaza Strip is facing solid waste management (SWM) issues as landfills are rapidly filling up, increasing amount of waste are generated, shortage of disposal land, resulting of serious environmental and human health impacts. This research aims to conduct a baseline for landfilling planning by focusing on three issues related to SWM in Gaza Strip, the first is the lack of updated information about the solid waste characteristics especially the composition of it. The second issue is the absence of a unified vision for landfilling system and landfill numbers in Gaza Strip because there is no real integration between all stakeholders in SWM. The third issue is the disappearance of defining the suitable locations of landfills in Gaza Strip. To achieve the objectives of the research, many approaches and tools are used namely; a field work was conducted in the main landfills to determine the composition of municipal solid waste (MSW) according to American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards; structured interviews, questionnaire, and DEFINITE (Decisions on a Finite Set of Alternative) model are adapted to find out the optimal needed number of landfills; geographical information system (GIS) technology is exploited to select the best locations of landfills. It is found that the potential of recycling in MSW of Gaza Strip is high since its composition constitutes of 47.5% Organic wastes, 14.5% Paper, 12% Plastic, 11.5% Other inorganics, 8% Metals, and 6.5% Glass. According to the multi criteria decision analysis (MCDA) and based on the stakeholders feedbacks, it is found that central landfill, area equals 1000 dunum, would be efficient and enough to manage the produced waste in Gaza Strip. However, some requirements are required for that such that the location of this landfill should be appropriate for all districts, transfer stations should be constructed to facilitate the transfer of waste, and adequate trucks with spare parts should be secured to transfer the waste. The results obtained from implementing a loose scenario of sitting criteria and using GIS show that the available areas for landfill sitting are less than 30 km2 divided to seven candidate areas. Because of its location in middle distance between all solid waste generation centers, the fourth site is considered the most suitable site for a landfill location. It is recommended that additional studies should be done on the characteristics of MSW like seasonal variations, laboratory experiments, and volume of MSW components. Also other studies should be done to conduct recycling plans for potential recyclables. These plans could contain the required recycling techniques for each material, feasibility studies, cost benefit analysis, and the responsibilities of all stakeholders. Furthermore, detailed investigations should be required for choosing the best location specifically by conducting MCDA based on experts’ opinions and field studies.