The landfill area quality (LAQ) classification approach and its application in Isparta, Turkey

The amount of residential and industrial solid waste, and the need for landfill sites, is ever growing due to increases in population and industrial production. Landfilling is a widely used method for environmentally safe disposal of solid waste, and the selection of the most suitable landfill site is a very crucial decision. In this study, a new site evaluation method to determine suitable landfill sites, called Landfill Area Quality (LAQ), is introduced. This method is applied in two stages. First, several potential landfill sites, which are within legally permissible areas, are chosen by a general consideration of the relevant site properties. Then, the characteristics of these chosen sites are placed within three-dimensional evaluation spaces. These evaluative dimensions are (1) site suitability, (2) location factors, and (3) public acceptability, and each is defined by a combination of different criteria. The result of this re-evaluation, which provides valuable information to planning engineers and decision makers about the available sites, is reported to decision makers for the final selection. A detailed case study was carried out as part of a residential solid waste disposal project for the city of Isparta in Turkey, (population 150,000), and was very useful to planners.