Application of Fuzzy Logic in the Selection of a Suitable Sanitary Landfill Site for Solid Waste Disposal and Management in Coastal Area of Nigeria

Abstract

Solid waste management has been identified as one of the most challenging environmental problems facing cities in most developing countries because of the risks to human health and the general environment. Different methods are available for solid waste disposal and they include; ocean dumping open burning and sanitary landfill. Of these available methods, sanitary landfill remains the most effective and hygienic method of solid waste disposal. Inspite of its effectiveness, the method of waste disposal using sanitary landfill is challenged by the availability of suitable land. To select a suitable site for landfill application numerous factors must be considered, ranging from; flood extent, stream, rivers, swampy areas, ground water, built-up areas, roads, slopes, airport, palaces and point of interests (POIs). In this study, fuzzy logic technique of data analysis was employed to analyze the various factors in order to select the most suitable site for landfill application in the study area. The basic steps involved in the application of fuzzy logic in the modeling and prediction of suitable site for landfill application are as follows; definition of input and output variables, conversion of crisp variables into fuzzy sets, definition of membership functions for each inputs and output variables, creation of fuzzy rules and simulation. Result of the fuzzy simulation revealed that; for river buffer distance of 0.9909km, ground water elevation of 7.13m, road buffer distance of 0.7727km, land slope of 2.673⁰ and built-up area buffer distance of 1.37km, suitability ranking is 2 which mean “least suitable. For river buffer distance of 1.355km, ground water elevation of 9.537m, road buffer distance of 1.645km, land slope of 3.655⁰ and built-up area buffer distance of 1.778km, suitability ranking is 3 which means “moderately suitable” and for river buffer distance of 2.5km, ground water elevation of 15m, road buffer distance of 2.5km, land slope of 6⁰ and built-up area buffer distance of 2.5km, suitability ranking is 4 which means “highly suitable”

Keywords: Sanitary landfill, Fuzzy logic, Membership functions, Fuzzy rules and Suitability rating

DOI: 10.7176/JEES/10-1-07

Publication date: January 31^st 2020