MCA and geospatial analysis-based suitable dumping site selection for urban environmental protection: A case study of Shambu, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia

A lack of suitable dumping sites in a town or city can have an impact on the health of the residents as well as the quality of the urban environment. There are no identified dumping sites in this study area that meet scientific or urban standards. Residents are dumping solid waste into ditches, roads, public water sources, and small streams. The solid and liquid wastes generated by residential areas, state prisons, religious areas, public markets, and business centers have a negative impact on the town. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the novelty of using Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA)-based geospatial analysis to select suitable dumping sites in Shambu town. Key factors for dumping site selection, such as LULC, road networks, private well locations, slope, geomorphology, geology, soil texture, drainage density, and lineament density, were confirmed as geospatial analysis criteria. In the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), the importance of the key factors was weighted and prioritized, and thematic maps were created using weighted overlay analysis. The suitable dumping sites were identified using qualitative classifications such as (“)highly suitable(”) (13.84%), (“)moderately suitable(”) (7.35%), (“)less suitable(”) (30.41%), and (“)not suitable(”) (48.40%). The consistency of AHP was determined to be CI = 0.012, indicating that the weights assigned to each factor were correct. As a result, the use of geospatial and MCA analysis for dumping site suitability analysis was successful, and the findings of this study will be useful in taking action to reduce the impacts of solid waste by developing dumping plants on the identified sites.