Optimal Selection of a Landfill Disposal Site Using a Modified Fuzzy Utility Approach

Abstract

The present paper develops an integrated fuzzy based model to select an optimal landfill site among the given alternative sites by using the concept of fuzzy-utility method and multi-nomial logit theory. The suitability of different landfill sites are evaluated based on some important criteria involved in the process such as accessibility and transportation; environmental, geological and climatic conditions; socioeconomic conditions; land use pattern; and safety at the selected site. These criteria are assessed qualitatively by the decision makers based on their relative degree of importance. The importance weights and ratings of each criterion have been defined in the form of triplets of triangular fuzzy numbers by taking opinion of the decision makers. The corresponding triplets of ratings of each site are used to derive the utility value of the alternative sites. A multi-nomial logit model has been applied to calculate the probability of selection of each alternative site which can help policy makers to take appropriate decisions. Finally, the proposed methodology has been applied to allocate suitable landfill sites for disposing off municipal solid waste for Pilani town which is located in Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan. The results evaluated by the modified fuzzy utility are also compared to the outputs of a direct method which is basically based on certain linguistic aggregation operators for group decision making. Computational results clearly demonstrate that the results obtained by the proposed method are coinciding very well and prepares a basis to adopt an overall strategy for selecting appropriate landfill site for proper solid waste disposal and its management.