APPLICATION OF GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS (GIS) FOR SITING A SANITARY LAND FILL: A CASE OF FINLAY’S TEA (K) LIMITED KERICHO, KENYA

Abstract

Solid waste disposal is one of the most troublesome challenges facing many developing countries including Kenya. Not only has the volume of solid waste increased rapidly in the past few years, but the available sites meeting stringent environmental requirements have been depleted. The study was carried at Finlay‘s Tea (K) Limited located in Kericho district in the Rift Valley province starting from October 2012 to April 2013. The main objective of the study is to assess the application of GIS and Remote Sensing technologies in locating a landfill. Solid waste was characterized by its nature as either organic or inorganic. Mode of solid waste management was determined using interview schedules with respective officers in charge of waste management. Spatial data for fitting in the regulatory and acceptance criteria processing model were collected using GPS (Gemini model). Constraint Mapping Techniques (CMT) and Geographical Information System (GIS) map analysis approaches were used to create new map layers. Once all the map layers satisfying the criteria were developed, an overlay map was generated representing the final landfill suitable areas. The study findings identified seven potential landfill sites that adequately satisfied the environmental and to some extent economic attributes. These sites are Cheptambas settlement, Chemamul, Cheptabes, Kaproret, Kapkoros, Kapsongoi, and Saosa respectively. Three most appropriate sites were picked basing on the constraints mapping techniques these sites are Kaproret, Chepgoiben and Chebitet respectively. Facility siting can affect the success or failure of a disposal facility in terms of the associated environmental, economic and social impacts. This study has outlined a siting methodology that is appropriate for siting a landfill facility within the context of the study area but is also flexible enough to be used in facility siting in other parts of the world. Recommendations are made for application of GIS in sitting landfills in the study area.