Optimal site selection for construction and demolition waste disposal using GIS-FAHP: a case study from Kafr El Sheikh City, Egypt

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international 2024-01, Vol.31 (5), p.8223-8239
• Main Authors: Elshaboury, Nehal, Hesham, Amr, AlMetwaly, Wael M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analytic hierarchy process; Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; case studies; Construction; Construction industry wastes; Decision analysis; Demolition; Dumping; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Egypt; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental protection; focus groups; Geographic information systems; human health; Land use; multi-criteria decision making; Multiple criterion; questionnaires; Remote sensing; Research Article; Satellite imagery; Site selection; Surveys; Waste disposal; waste disposal sites; Waste Water Technology; Wastes; Water Management; Water Pollution Control
• ISSN: 1614-7499; 0944-1344; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-023-31637-8

The increasing number of building and demolition projects results in huge amounts of construction and demolition wastes (CDWs) that are illegally dumped. However, these wastes must be disposed of in appropriate legal sites to protect the environment and human health. After reviewing the literature, no prior research examined optimal site selection for dumping or recycling CDW in an Egyptian city. Furthermore, the absence of field surveys did not offer a holistic understanding of the specific criteria used in the model for this region, nor did it permit an assessment of the suitability of existing dumpsites, thereby revealing certain limitations in the final results. In this regard, this research aims to apply a multi-criteria geographic information system (GIS)-based framework to identify an optimal site for CDW disposal in Kafr El Sheikh City. The criteria affecting the site selection are identified and categorized from prior literature, which are further refined using field surveys and focus group to evaluate their applicability in the context of an Egyptian city. After conducting questionnaire surveys, the trapezoidal interval type II fuzzy analytic hierarchy process is applied to compute the weights of the identified criteria from the perspective of each group of experts. The entropy-based aggregation approach is employed to identify the compromise weights taking into account the preferences of different groups. GIS is a powerful tool for geoprocessing and analyzing spatial big data. The result is a scenario map for the optimal site locations with varying suitability scales (i.e., excellent, very good, good, average, poor, and very poor). The proposed methodology provides what-if scenarios based on a selected set of criteria. According to the results of the multi-criteria decision analysis models, the suitability varies based on the weights of the criteria. For the equal-weighted criteria model, the excellent category covers 5.96% of the study area, increasing to 6.48% for the weighted criteria model. These areas primarily lie in the northeast direction. Conversely, the majority of the study area, 41.80% under equal-weighted criteria and 32.39% under weighted criteria, falls within the average and poor suitability categories, respectively. In general, the most suitable areas are located on the outskirts of the city, and the suitability decreases near the central business district. To bridge the gap between research findings and practical applications,