Landfill siting studies: determinant of exclusion and selection criteria in view of regulation and stakeholders strategies

Abstract

The choice of a location for new sanitary landfills is defined through siting studies involving multi-criteria analysis and the use of a geographic information system. This article analyzes the exclusion criteria used by project holders while assessing the degree of constraint induced by environmental regulations and how it influences the criteria selection process. Then the selection criteria mobilized by the various project holders are compared in order to obtain a comprehensive view of the issues addressed. The analysis shows that the logic of the stakeholders is rarely correlated with the consideration of local characteristics but is influenced by the scale of the territories concerned by the projects and by their temporality. These results support the idea that decision-making is closely linked to the roles, functions and strategies of the actors involved in the decision-making arenas.