Do Solid Waste Landfills Really Affect Land Use Change? Answers Using the Weighted Environmental Index (WEI)

This research analyzes the impact on land use induced by urban solid waste landfills using the Weighted Environmental Index (WEI). The methodology used to analyze the environmental value of the landfill’s areas of influence is based on the analysis of the space-time variations of the WEI inside them. The application of this methodology allows identifying the areas where the environmental value has changed over time, providing a quantitative indicator that can be analyzed using statistical techniques. The methodology has been applied as a case study to analyze the influence over land use in all the municipal solid waste landfills currently in operation inside the Valencia Region (Spain). Results have been obtained using GIS techniques integrating the information provided by the Information System on Land Occupation in Spain land use database. Results show that, without exception, the environmental value of the territory has decreased in all the cases analyzed. WEI is a powerful tool for analyzing land use change over time, and its application allows for performing detailed statistical analyses leading to key conclusions about land use changes inside the landfill influence areas.