A Report on Using Geographic Information System (GIS) to Select Solid Waste Disposal Site: A Case Study in Techiman Municipality, Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana

ABSTRACT

Solid waste management over the years has been a serious problem on the nation 

Ghana. This solid waste materials are generated by humans in the cities and 

municipalities of almost all developing countries. In this country, it is one of the 

most pressing concerns of the government because of the health problems that 

comes with it when not managed well. In most countries locating a suitable site for 

the construction of landfills is not easy. With the invention of the Geographic 

Information System (GIS), locating suitable sites has become very easy because, it 

is a tool that allows the operator to understand, view, query, and visualize spatial 

and non-spatial data and interpretate data in many ways. It gives the operator much 

understanding of the relationship, pattern and trends that is displayed in a map form, 

reports and charts (Lui and Mason, 2009; Bhatta, 2010). The current waste disposal 

site in the municipality is in bad condition and makes the people around vulnerable 

to health hazards. By the employment of certain criteria in the work, a suitable 

landfill site was selected within the municipality which will help minimize the 

effect of the waste on the health of the people within the municipality. Physical 

characteristics, socio-economic and land use factors are the criteria used for 

selecting the site in this research (EPA, 2006).