Asian Review of Environmental and Earth Sciences

The generation and disposal of solid waste is a serious problem in urban areas especially in developing countries. This is because of high generation rates, insufficient budget and machinery for solid waste management, inappropriate techniques and few or non-existent suitable dumping sites. The main objective of this study is to propose suitable areas for solid waste dumping in Damaturu Town, which are environmentally suitable and economically viable. The main data used for this study were Landsat 8 OLI TIRS image with a spatial resolution of 30m; digital elevation model (DEM) with 30m spatial resolution, and ground control point (GCP) collected with a handheld global positioning system (GPS). The maps were prepared by overlay and suitability analysis was carried out using geographic information system (GIS), remote sensing techniques and multi criteria analysis methods. The final suitability map was produced by overlay analyses in ArcMap and levelled as high, moderate, less suitable, and unsuitable regions. The results indicate that 65% of the study area is unsuitable for solid waste dumping; 1.3% less suitable; 21.8% moderately suitable; and 11.9% most suitable. The potential most suitable areas for solid waste dumping sites fall on southern, south eastern and south western parts of the town where there are least environmental and health risks. The GIS and remote sensing techniques are important tools for solid waste site selection. Hence, the capacity to use GIS and remote sensing technology for the effective identification of suitable solid waste dumping site will minimize the environmental risk and human health problems.