Langkawi Island is located in the Andaman Sea, which is approximately 30 km from the mainland coast of North-western Malaysia. Langkawi hosts the first global Geopark in Southeast Asia. Administratively, Langkawi Island is a District in the Kedah State. Its economy is largely driven by tourism due to its historic geophysical environment.
Published in Chapter:
Regional Landfill Site Selection with GIS and Analytical Hierarchy Process Techniques: A Case Study of Langkawi Island, Malaysia
Elmira Shamshiry (University Kebangsaan, Malaysia & Research Management Center (RMC), University Malaysia Terengganu (UMT), Malaysia), Abdul Mumin Abdulai (University Kebangsaan, Malaysia), Mazlin Bin Mokhtar (University Kebangsaan, Malaysia), and Ibrahim Komoo (Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT), Malaysia)
Copyright: © 2015
|Pages: 35
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-8598-7.ch011
Abstract
Increasing population and urbanization pose a huge challenge for municipal authorities to select suitable landfill site to dispose the increasing quantities of solid waste. Wrong landfill siting can result in social, environmental and economic cost. Therefore, suitable approaches are required to select landfill sites because that can enhance sound waste disposal practice in the fast-growing urban areas. The Geographic Information System based Multi-criteria Decision Analysis has been used in this chapter to examine the essentials of an effective site selection. GIS-based MCDA is an intelligent system that transforms spatial data into valuable information which can be used to make critical decisions. The analytical hierarchy process is utilized to assist the prioritization process. In Langkawi, disposal of municipal solid waste into open sites could lead to different adverse impacts on public health and the physical environment. This paper represents simple but effective method to assist landfill site selection efforts in the Langkawi.