ORIGINAL ARTICLE Landfill site selection using integrated fuzzy logic and analytic network process (F-ANP) A. A. Isalou • V. Zamani • B. Shahmoradi • H. Alizadeh Received: 29 March 2012 / Accepted: 18 July 2012 Ó Springer-Verlag 2012 Abstract Locating a suitable place to dispose the muni- cipal solid wastes hygienically (sanitary landfill) is one of the fundamental subjects relating the environmental sta- bility of cities and, in general, the human settlements. This final stage of solid waste management requires observance of a series of principles and criteria mainly including environmental, social, economical, and general acceptance criteria. The set of these criteria along with their sub-cri- teria causes some complexities in decision making for landfill site selection. Considering effective parameters and criteria, we developed an integrated fuzzy logic and ana- lytic network process (i.e. F-ANP) to locate a suitable location for landfilling municipal solid wastes generated in Kahak Town, Qom, Iran. Our findings revealed that inte- gration of fuzzy logic and ANP can give better idea com- pared with other models like AHP, fuzzy logic, and ANP (individually). Therefore, this model can be applied in site selection for landfill of other similar places. Keywords F-ANP  Landfill  Site selection  Kahak Town  GIS Introduction During recent years, suitable site selection for sanitary landfill has attracted a numerous number of research works and academic studies (Lin and Kao 1999; Babalola and Busu 2011). Given the importance of this issue, especially with the rapid growth of urban communities and the effects caused by dumping solid wastes in the areas surrounding the settlements was felt more than ever before. During its short life, the environmental impacts put a serious threat on human health and the ecosystems. Infiltration of leachate into rivers and ground waters, vectors breeding, contami- nation transferring through food chain, releasing CH 4 and CO 2 , etc. are among the most important issues (Abdoli et al. 2010). Accordingly, most countries including developed coun- tries and developing countries have considered suitable site selection, based on logical and scientific principles and criteria, as environmental consideration priorities (Saidi et al. 2010). Meanwhile, using different models and meth- ods in order to facilitate the decision making is obvious because the landfill site selection based on a set of different criteria seems to be a knotty, complex, annoying, and long process (Nas et al. 2009; Sener et al. 2011). Al-Jarrah and Abu-Qdais (2005) developed fuzzy model in locating landfill. Factors used in their study included topography, geology, natural resources, social-cultural, and economical dimensions, and safety. While classifying suitable sites for Al Ghabavi City landfill, they introduced fuzzy model as a suitable tool for planners and decision makers concerning landfill locating. Javaheri et al. (2006) located a site for Jiroft Town landfill using AHP and GIS. They used four main indica- tors (geomorphology, hydrology, humanistic, and land use) and eight sub-criteria in their study. A. A. Isalou  H. Alizadeh Department of Urban Planning, Faculty of Art and Architecture, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran V. Zamani Department of Urban Planning, Faculty of Art and Architecture, Payamnoor University of Qom, Qom, Iran B. Shahmoradi (&) Kurdistan Environmental Health Research Center, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Kurdistan, Iran e-mail: bshahmorady@gmail.com 123 Environ Earth Sci DOI 10.1007/s12665-012-1865-y