Integrating multi-criteria evaluation techniques with geographic information systems for landfill site selection: A case study using ordered weighted average

► We implemented GIS-based multi-criteria decision analysis approach for evaluating the suitability for landfill site selection. ► The framework considers environmental and economic factors which are standardized by fuzzy membership functions. ► The factors are aggregated by integration of analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and ordered weighted average (OWA) techniques. ► OWA outputs a wide range of different solution maps and predictive alternatives for landfill siting and decision-making. ► The OWA solution maps are intended to quantify the level of risk taking with different predictive alternatives. This paper presents a GIS-based multi-criteria decision analysis approach for evaluating the suitability for landfill site selection in the Polog Region, Macedonia. The multi-criteria decision framework considers environmental and economic factors which are standardized by fuzzy membership functions and combined by integration of analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and ordered weighted average (OWA) techniques. The AHP is used for the elicitation of attribute weights while the OWA operator function is used to generate a wide range of decision alternatives for addressing uncertainty associated with interaction between multiple criteria. The usefulness of the approach is illustrated by different OWA scenarios that report landfill suitability on a scale between 0 and 1. The OWA scenarios are intended to quantify the level of risk taking (i.e., optimistic, pessimistic, and neutral) and to facilitate a better understanding of patterns that emerge from decision alternatives involved in the decision making process.