A multicriteria model for the location of solid waste transfer stations: The case of Ashdod, Israel

Solid waste transfer stations are designed in order to avoid the direct travelling of trucks from individual collection sites to refuse disposal sites. The location of such stations is problematic since they may have to be established within urban areas. There are five groups of locational consideration for transfer stations: Ecological, political, transportation, economic and spatial. The multicriteria evaluation model may be used for a comparative assessment of the many criteria involved. Each group of criteria and each specific criterion are ranked ordinally, and then proposed sites are rated according to each criterion. The final ranking summaries indicate the preferred location. The method was successfully applied to two stations in Ashdod, Israel.