Towards sustainable waste management: GIS-AHP based landfill suitability assessment in Gampaha district, Sri Lanka

Abstract

In the rapidly growing Gampaha District of the Western Province, this problem is magnified. The Gampaha Municipal Council alone generates about 45-50 metric tons of solid waste daily, but current collection systems manage barely half of it [2]. The rest is openly dumped, burnt, or discarded illegally. These activities pollute the air, degrade ecosystems, and endanger human lives. Addressing these im-pacts calls for smarter solutions. This article high¬lights how advanced tools like Remote Sensing, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) integrated with Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA), and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) can revolu¬tionize waste management by guiding the selection of more suitable solid waste disposal sites.