EJAS-11880.pdf

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European Journal of Applied Sciences – Vol. 10, No. 2

Publication Date: April 25, 2022

DOI:10.14738/aivp.102.11880. Felix, I., Ogechi, I. L., & Chibunna, B. J. (2022). Locating Suitable Solid Waste Dumping Sites using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques

in Aba Municipal, South-Eastern Nigeria. European Journal of Applied Sciences, 10(2). 64-75.

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

Locating Suitable Solid Waste Dumping Sites using Remote

Sensing and GIS Techniques in Aba Municipal, South-Eastern

Nigeria

Ike Felix

Department of Geography and Planning

Abia State University, Uturu, Nigeria

Isaac Lillian Ogechi

Department of Geography and Planning

Abia State University, Uturu, Nigeria

Babington John Chibunna

Department of Environmental Resource Management

Abia State University, Uturu, Nigeria

ABSTRACT

In most cities of Nigeria, indiscriminate solid waste dumping sites have taken over

roadways, clogging drainage systems and slowing traffic flow. Conditions arising

from indiscriminate waste disposal can lead to contamination of the environment

and outbreaks of diseases. The main objective of this study was to examine the

existing and predict potential suitable areas for solid waste dumping in Aba

municipal in South-eastern Nigeria. The data used for this study were Landsat

image; elevation map, ground control point of existing solid waste dumping sites,

and topographical sheets of the study area. The maps were prepared by overlay and

multi-criteria thresholds of roads, settlement, slope and distance to stream, We

found that that 65% of the solid waste dumping area located close to roads and

clustered in densely populated areas around the city center The final predictive

suitability map for locating solid waste dumpsites indicated that, 11.35sqkm

(19.41%) is not suitable, 26.47sqkm (45.25%) is less suitable, 16.17sqkm (27.65%)

is moderately suitable and 4.5sqkm (7.69%) is highly suitable for Solid waste

disposal. The potential most suitable areas for solid waste dumping sites fall about

5000m west of Ariaria market and 10,000m south east of Umu Mba in Aba

Municipal.

INTRODUCTION

The Basel Convection defines waste as substances or objects which are disposed of or are

intended to be disposed of or are required to be disposed of by the provisions of national

law(Basel, 2019). Solid waste is any nonflowing substance that is relatively undesirable or

unuseful as a result of human and natural activities. Some of these solid waste products include

automobiles, electrical appliances, and other inorganic materials which are not destroyed but

are discarded when they are no longer in use. Cities in general absorb a great deal of materials

which are transformed into useful purposes while a lot will always be left as waste. As a result

of increased urbanization and industrialization, most of these cities have a higher concentration

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Felix, I., Ogechi, I. L., & Chibunna, B. J. (2022). Locating Suitable Solid Waste Dumping Sites using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques in Aba

Municipal, South-Eastern Nigeria. European Journal of Applied Sciences, 10(2). 64-75.

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/aivp.102.11880

of waste than their systems can absorb (Grimm et al., 2008; Wang et al., 2019). The goal of solid

waste management is to guarantee that waste is collected and disposed of in a way that is safe

for humans, animals, and ecosystems. Waste management in industrialized countries has

evolved into material flow management, which entails careful processing of raw materials,

reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and environmental protection.

In developing countries like Nigeria, individuals and businesses dispose of the majority of

municipal solid waste at designated dumping points (Abila & Kantola, 2013; Ogwueleka, 2009).

Most of the time, these spots are left unattended. These waste products are collected once or

twice a week by government-appointed workers and deposited in landfills, where they are

burnt or buried (Ogwueleka, 2009). A detailed examination of the streets of Aba municipal

exposes how solid waste collection points have taken over the majority of the roads, clogged

drainage systems, and slowed traffic flow unsanitary conditions can result from improper

municipal solid waste disposal, which can lead to environmental contamination and vector- borne disease outbreaks.

Due to low recycling and reuse options in developing countries, the proportion of municipal

solid waste (MSW) that ends up in landfills is expected to be higher (Aboyade, 2004). This

means that, despite the fact that dumpsites are the least favoured alternative for long-term

municipal solid waste (MSW) management, they will continue to exist for a long time. There is

ample evidence that residential areas in many cities in developing countries face a variety of

environmental difficulties arising from solid waste disposal in landfills (Leton & Omotosho,

2004; Wafi et al., 2019).

Available data from the Abia State Environmental Protection Agency on the amount of solid

waste generated in Aba between 2017 and 2020 reveals that the waste volume varies

depending on their sources. The data also reveals a strong link between municipal activities

and the amount of solid waste generated. For example, between 2017 and 2019, there was an

increasing trend in the general volume of waste generated(Table 1), but by 2020, there was a

45 percent drop, which could be due to the government's total lock-down of economic activities

during the peak of the Covid 19 pandemic.

Table 1. Solid Waste Generated in Aba between 2017and 2020

Origin of

Waste\ Year

2017 2018 2019 2020

Mining 11112 10112 14338 9233

Industry 800413 1434221 1723944 767 233

Agricultural\

Forest

100423 153 221 400313 334, 443

Construction

and Demolition

200348 300123 398226 145 334

Household,

commercial and

Government

Bodies

1322133 1441372 1568385 876221

Waste Water

Treatment

25330 25312 78,331 20113

Total(Tonnes) 2,459,759 3,211,140 4,183,537 905,567

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European Journal of Applied Sciences (EJAS) Vol. 10, Issue 2, April-2022

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

Allocating a solid waste dumping location is a tough task that requires the consideration of

proximity to human settlement and other infrastructural factor (Khan & Samadder, 2014;

Yukalang et al., 2018).The use of remote sensing and GIS techniques to detect proximity-based

variables such as distance to roads and settlements impacts the appropriateness of solid waste

dumpsites is required for the generating spatial models needed for site design. Geographic

Information Systems (GIS) have been used in conjunction with multicriteria criteria thresholds

to produce maps of the most suitable sites for solid waste collection(Bilgilioglu et al., 2021;

Marceta et al., 2021; Wang et al., 2019) . One such threshold is documented in the Environment

Protection Agency Landfill Manual (Vallero & Blight, 2019).The EPA guideline establishes a

minimal standard for locating municipal solid waste sites.

Solid waste heaps continue to grow in Nigerian cities on a regular basis, and the sites have

become breeding grounds for flies and other vectors, posing health risks, blocking traffic, and

degrading the environment. Aba Urban has unquestionably experienced population expansion,

resulting in increases in residential, commercial, industrial, and other activities. These

operations, together with settlement, will undoubtedly have an impact on solid waste

generation and disposal. The purpose of this research is to assess the suitability of solid waste

dumping sites in Aba, Abia State, Nigeria. The objectives include: to report on the location of

existing collection points, determine their acceptability, and propose suitable sites for waste

dumping in Aba municipal.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The study area

Aba is the largest commercial city in South-Eastern Nigeria and is located between latitudes 50

2’ 30” N to 50 8’ 00” N and longitudes 70 20’ 00” E to 70 26’ 00” E (Figure 1).

Figure 1. The Study Area

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Felix, I., Ogechi, I. L., & Chibunna, B. J. (2022). Locating Suitable Solid Waste Dumping Sites using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques in Aba

Municipal, South-Eastern Nigeria. European Journal of Applied Sciences, 10(2). 64-75.

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/aivp.102.11880

Rainfall is relatively constant throughout the year, with an annual total of 2000mm-2300mm

with an average daily temperature of 28°C in the dry season and 24°C in the wet. The vegetation

in this area belongs to the rainforest zone. The trees in this area are exceptionally tall, reaching

a height of roughly 30 meters. These trees are evergreen and have intertwined branches that

form canopies. The municipal soil is largely sandy and loamy, as is typical of the coastal areas.

The Geology of Aba is primarily made up of coastal plain sand with relatively flat topography.

Data

Field surveys and observation were used to gather the primary data. These datasets included

surveying and collecting coordinates of existing waste collection sites, as well as ground

trothing remotely sensed data. Informal interviews, field trips, and firsthand inspections of

dumpsites were all part of the data collection process. Data on elevation and coordinate points

of existing solid waste collection points were collected using the Global Positioning System

(GPS). Landsat TM satellite image, covering the study area (188/056) for February, 2016

sourced from the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

Feature layers such as highways and water bodies were digitized using ArcGIS online, while soil

and geology (1:50,000) were digitized from 1972 maps from the Abia State Ministry of

Environment. Elevation matrices were created using data from the Shuttle Rader Topography

Mission (SRTM) Digital Elevation Model (DEM) collected in February 2000. Table 2 shows the

specifics of the data gathered.

Table 2. Nature and sources of data used

Data Source Time Resolution Application

Landsat 8 USGS 2018 30M To extract the Land-use types.

SRTM (Shuttle

Rader Topography

Mission

USGS EROS

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European Journal of Applied Sciences (EJAS) Vol. 10, Issue 2, April-2022

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Image classification procedure was undertaken to categorize all pixels into land cover classes

using supervised classified method. Following the classification, 80 samples were chosen at

random to test the classification accuracy using the Kappa matrix. Overall, 75.75 percent of the

predictions were correct.

Method of Data Analysis

The datasets collected from the study area were evaluated to determine the suitability of the

existing waste dumpsite and to suggest alternative locations. GIS, multi-criteria based land

use/land cover, road network; slope, water bodies, and settlement were used to find the most

acceptable solid waste disposal sites in the study area. These records were chosen for waste

collection point suitability based on the EPA landfill manual of 2006 (Table 3). Weighted

overlay sum techniques were utilized to evaluate the appropriateness of the selected criteria.

Each of the input data is given a weight influence based on its importance, and the results are

then multiplied by each of the constraints one by one.

Table3: Factor criteria table derived from EPA landfill manual

Criteria Unsuitable Less

suitable

Moderately

suitable

Highly

suitable

Distance to water

body

0-160m 160m-480m 480m-960m >960m

Slope 15o -20o 10o -15o 5o-10o 0o-5o

Distance to road 100m 200m -500m 500m-1500m >1500m

Distance to

Residential

0 -250m 250m-450m 450m-550m 550m-700m

For each layer, Euclidean distance output raster was generated to show the measured distance

from the road network, residential area, and water body to the waste collection points. Next,

the slope map and Euclidean distances for each layer were reclassified and ranked from 1 (least

suitable) to 10. Moreover, the values of classes between levels were assigned numeric values

inside each map layer through reclassification to build a single ranked map of probable solid

waste collecting areas. Because having all metrics on the same numeric scale provides them

equal weight in choosing the most appropriate locations, all data map layers were reclassified

into new numeric values or scored as '4 to 1' to indicate the distinctions across suitability zones.

These tasks were performed in Arc GIS.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Assessment of the Exiting Waste Collection Points

Figure 2 depicts the existing solid waste collection points. An examination of the overlay reveals

that 65 percent of the Waste Collection points are along roadways and grouped in heavily

populated regions surrounding Aba municipal's city core. During the rainy season, the

nuisances are at their worst, as the area becomes overrun with flies and insects.

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Felix, I., Ogechi, I. L., & Chibunna, B. J. (2022). Locating Suitable Solid Waste Dumping Sites using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques in Aba

Municipal, South-Eastern Nigeria. European Journal of Applied Sciences, 10(2). 64-75.

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/aivp.102.11880

Figure 2: Results of the Waste Collected Points Generated During Fieldwork

Suitability Results of solid waste collection site in Aba Municipal

Land use/land cover

Aba is depicted as a typical urban area on the land cover map (Figure 3) obtained from the

categorization of the Landsat image. This is indicated by 64 percent of settlements/built-up

area, 21% of vegetation, and 15% of agricultural land. Following a review of the literature, it

was determined that selecting an area that was occupied by bare and grassy fields for solid

waste disposal was the best option. The research area's bare land is mostly surrounded by built- up. Worse, the agricultural land is located in close proximity to highly inhabited areas.

As a result, highly vegetated land cover types appear to be the best choice for solid waste

disposal and collection in Aba. As a result, given the nature of Aba's land use, there should be

no garbage collection sites within the municipality; instead, solid waste should be dropped and

processed at densely vegetated land cover types simultaneously

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European Journal of Applied Sciences (EJAS) Vol. 10, Issue 2, April-2022

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

Figure 3: Land Cover Map of The study Area

Roads

As a general concept, the waste collection area shall not be located within 100 m of any major

highway, city streets, or other transportation routes. Solid waste dumping sites must be located

at a suitable distance from the roads network to facilitate transportation and consequently to

reduce relative costs. The study preferred a buffer above 2000 m distance from main roads by

referring to the EPA manual. The reclassified result (Figure 4) further indicated that only 2.6

km2 representing less than 5% of the total area, is suitably located. Other results showed that

39.23km2 (greater than 70%) is unsuitable for waste collection.

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Felix, I., Ogechi, I. L., & Chibunna, B. J. (2022). Locating Suitable Solid Waste Dumping Sites using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques in Aba

Municipal, South-Eastern Nigeria. European Journal of Applied Sciences, 10(2). 64-75.

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/aivp.102.11880

Figure 4. Roads Suitability Levels for Solid Waste Collection in Aba Municipal

Slope

Slope provides a good drainage system needed to prevent leaching of waste water and other

soluble from dumpsite into underground and surface water. Lower slopes are highly suitable

than the land with higher slopes for waste disposal and collection. Different research shows

that areas with high slopes will have high risk of pollution and potentially not a good site for

dumping. The slope suitability class indicates that 5km2 about 75% of the study area is highly

suitable for waste collection. About 2.3km2 of the area is moderately suitable while the

remainder is not suitable. Hence, topography is not a constraint of waste collection in the study

area.

Settlement and streams

Like other criteria, settlement areas were classified according to their suitability The study

considered the reclassified distances from the settlement as unsuitable from 0 to 2500m, less

suitable between 2500m and 4500m, suitable from 4500m to 5500m, and most suitable from

5500 to 7000m for the urban area These classes showed that of the area coverage, 39.23 km2

(unsuitable), 10.82km2 (less suitable) 7.09km2, (moderately suitable) and only 3.89km2

(suitable). The Euclidean distance of 2000m. was applied as the most suitable distance from

stream. From the result of the analysis, the most suitable distance from stream has area

coverage of 9.55km2(14.78%) which implies that the farther the distance, the more suitable it

becomes

Overlaying and identifying suitable sites

The site selection for a solid waste disposal dumping site involves the comparison of different

options based on environmental, social, and economic impact. Hence, based on experience and

likely impact on the surrounding environment, different weights were assigned to all

parameters . The larger the weight, the more important is the criterion for the overall utility.

The weights were developed by multiplying each raster by their given weight and summing

them together. The final suitability map for locating solid waste dumpsites is seen in Figure 5.

unsituable Less situable Moderately

situable

Highly Situable

Suitability Level (%)

unsituable

Less situable

Moderately situable

Highly Situable

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European Journal of Applied Sciences (EJAS) Vol. 10, Issue 2, April-2022

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

Figure 5. Modeled Suitability Levels for Aba

The result shows that an area of 11.35sqkm (19.41%) is not suitable, 26.47sqkm (45.25%) is

less suitable, 16.17sqkm (27.65%) is moderately suitable and 4.5sqkm (7.69%) is highly

suitable for solid waste disposal Figure 6.

Figure 6: Predicted Suitability Levels in Area

unsituable Less situable Moderately situable Highly Situable

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Felix, I., Ogechi, I. L., & Chibunna, B. J. (2022). Locating Suitable Solid Waste Dumping Sites using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques in Aba

Municipal, South-Eastern Nigeria. European Journal of Applied Sciences, 10(2). 64-75.

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/aivp.102.11880

Discussion

The current study is an essential step toward filling a major gap in waste disposal site detection

and improving the cost-effectiveness and efficiency of waste management initiatives in Aba

municipal. GIS and Remote Sensing are appropriate for site selection studies because of their

ability to manage enormous volumes of geographical data from multiple sources (Bilgilioglu et

al., 2021) and they have been widely used in the recent past for site selection studies (Khudhair

et al., 2020). To enable transportation and hence lower relative costs, solid waste dumping sites

should be positioned at a reasonable distance from roadways. As a result of the unanticipated

of the urban sprawl of Aba, the distance between waste disposal and residential areas is are

getting narrow.

The hydrological condition of the environment impacts the rate at which materials are

dispersed; more specifically, the hydraulic qualities of the water bodies determine the rate at

which toxins from solid waste are distributed (Manfredi et al., 2010; Nai et al., 2021). The

proximity of a solid waste dump site to water bodies is an important environmental

consideration in site selection, as it protects other land uses from runoff and discharge. As a

result, solid waste disposal sites should be located away from bodies of water.

CONCLUSION

The generation of solid waste has expanded extensively amid the ongoing past because of the

rising worldwide population and rapid urbanization and its improper disposal and poor

management (Mussa & Suryabhagavan, 2021). In this study, we used land use, slope, water

sources, settlement, and roads as the determining factors for locating the solid waste collection

sites. The results have shown that four sites in Aba were selected as the most suitable. The

findings of this study have shown the ability of GIS and remote sensing as a veritable tool for

analyzing waste collection points using laid-down criteria. Overall, the suitability of garbage

collecting sites in Aba is influenced majorly by proximity to human settlements and roads. The

aim and objectives of this study have been achieved through the acquisition of the necessary

datasets and implementation of spatial analysis. The strength of this work lies in its simplicity,

flexibility, and user friendliness.

The increase in commercial, residential, and infrastructural development due to the population

growth and urban expansion Aba is directly affecting the amount of waste generation in the

area. This study is considered very imperative because it will serve as a catalyst in the area for

further improvement on waste dump siting and management. Therefore adequate management

and control of the use of the existing one need to be improved upon so as not to create the same

state of condition exhibited by the existing collection sites in the study area.

Virtually the waste collection points in Aba Urban are mostly unsuitable. Therefore, there

should be an overall restricting and reassignment of the existing waste collection points.

Concerning the municipalities, adequate spatial planning is nonexistent for locating dumpsites.

Thus, through integrated management, a system can be designed to foster environmental

sustainability.

It is recommended that Aba's municipal waste management authority have our suitability

model at their fingertips so that it can be used as a guide for dumpsite approval.

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European Journal of Applied Sciences (EJAS) Vol. 10, Issue 2, April-2022

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The authors would like to acknowledge the support from the Abia State University Research

Enhancement Fund (REF) for providing the finance and logistics needed for field work and data

collection.

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Felix, I., Ogechi, I. L., & Chibunna, B. J. (2022). Locating Suitable Solid Waste Dumping Sites using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques in Aba

Municipal, South-Eastern Nigeria. European Journal of Applied Sciences, 10(2). 64-75.

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/aivp.102.11880

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