Determination of alternative solid waste disposal areas for Erzurum province central districts using multi-criteria decision making method and geographical information system

This study covering the Pasinler, Palandöken, Yakutiye, and Aziziye districts of Erzurum province aimed to determine suitable solid waste storage areas. In this context, the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), one of the Multi-Criteria Decision Making Methods, was used to determine the suitable areas. Literature review, geographical characteristics of the study area, and available data played an important role in determining the criteria. In line with these options, distance from surface waters, distance from settlements, distance from airports, distance from roads, distance from railways, distance from landslide areas, distance from faults, lithology, soil structure, land use, slope, and aspect criteria were determined to be used in the AHP method. Each data was assigned a relative importance value based on pairwise comparison. The data for the determined criteria were obtained from various national/international public institutions and open-source databases. ArcGIS, a Geographic Information System software, was used to convert all these data into a suitable format (digitization) and to produce (query and analysis). In the last stage, maps of the weighted data were made, and the suitability map was created by calculating the normalized weight values. As a result of the study, five suitable areas ("Alternative a," "Alternative b," "Alternative c," "Alternative d," and "Alternative e") were determined for the solid waste disposal area. These areas are located within the borders of the Palandöken and Aziziye districts. The "Alternative a" area with a high suitability value was proposed among the alternative solid waste disposal areas. The fact that it is close to Erzurum city center and has an advantageous location in terms of transportation played an essential role in the recommendation of this area