[Mostafavi, 4(1): January, 2015] ISSN: 2277-9655 Scientific Journal Impact Factor: 3.449 (ISRA), Impact Factor: 2.114 http: // www.ijesrt.com © International Journal of Engineering Sciences & Research Technology [211] IJESRT INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING SCIENCES & RESEARCH TECHNOLOGY APPLYING ANALYTIC HIERARCHY PROCESS AND MULTIPLE CRITERIA ANALYSIS FOR MUNICIPAL LANDFILL SITE SELECTION IN BOJNOURD, IRAN Adel Dadsetan, Ahmad Khoursandi Aghai, Abdullah Rashidi Mehrabadi, Mostafa Mostafavi Sani * MSc graduate, Shahid Abbaspour College of Technology, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran Assistant professor, Shahid Abbaspour College of Technology, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran Assistant professor, Shahid Abbaspour College of Technology, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran Phd candidate, System Energy Eng. (Energy and Enviroment), University of Tehran, Faculty of Environment, Tehran. Iran. ABSTRACT One of the important environmental issues in today's life is the undesirable influence of municipal landfill site on the environment, especially ground water. Thus, it is very important to find appropriate landfill sites. The most important aim of site selection for municipal landfill is to ensure that the selected site has minimum negative effects on the environment and society. There are various methods for landfill site selection, most of which are GIS-based and use digital information and their weighting to determine susceptible and inappropriate landfill zones. To determine the zones with acceptable landfill potential in city of Bojnourd, 16 digital layers prepared in GIS software were combined; as a result, the whole studied region was divided into different zones (appropriate to inappropriate) and classified according to the priorities. In this process, the best landfill site was identified in the west of the aquifer of Bojnourd. Finally, characteristics of the proposed and current landfill sites were separately investigated. KEYWORDS: municipal landfill, site selection, Bojnourd aquifer, GIS Introduction Municipal waste is the inseparable part of human life and the generation of its various quantities and qualities is one of the most important environmental issues in today's life. Burial is the simplest and most economic method for waste disposal. Municipal waste management in landfills is one of the important environmental issues.[1] Landfills and their consequences, such as leachate, can cause environmental pollution, especially in ground and surface waters. Leachate of municipal landfills contains organic and chemical compounds as well as many suspended solids, which can adversely affect human health and the environment.[2] In this regard, inappropriate landfill site selection is among the issues which cause numerous economic, operational, social, and environmental problems as well as water, specifically ground water, contamination. The important point is selection of the site which could result in the best cost-efficacy in terms of the considered factors. The major aim of municipal landfill site selection is to assure that the selected site has minimum adverse effects on the environment and society. Appropriate selection of municipal landfill site is a difficult and complicated process, because a combination of social, environmental, technical, economic, and other factors is involved.[3] Introducing the studied region City of Bojnourd is the capital of North Khorasan Province and located between 56° 18' and 57° 44' east longitude and 37° 13' and 38° 17' north latitude. Area of this city is 6157 km², which constitutes about 22% of the province area. Residents of this city produce 140 ton waste per day, the major part of which is buried in the only landfill of the city located in the northeast. The present landfill of this city is located within the approved frontage of the city, which is 1 km away from the residential areas. Landfill location in the heights, its proximity to the climbing ways used by the public (considering the blowing direction of the prevailing wind), and closeness to the new cemetery (located at 1 km from the landfill) have caused specific problems.[4]