An evaluation of the temporal and spatial evolution of waste facilities using a simplified spatial distance analytical framework

Abstract

This study proposed a simplified GIS-based decision support tool to examine the temporal and spatial evolution of waste facilities at a regional level. The key objective is to examine the geospatial distribution of landfills and transfer stations in Saskatchewan, Canada, from 2018 to 2020 based on changes in Euclidean distance computed by both the Central Feature (CF) and median center (MdC) spatial statistical tools. Both the CF and MdC results suggest that transfer stations in 2020 were located significantly closer to communities, and an improved level of landfill regionalization is observed. Smoother Landfill and Transfer Station radial curves are generally observed using the MdC tool. About 47.1% of the divisions are classified as challenging areas using the CF method, whereas only 41.1% of the divisions are classified as challenging areas using the MdC method. Six divisions (35.3%) are considered as appropriately managed by both CF and MdC methods. On the contrary, 23.5% of all divisions are suggested by both methods as challenging areas. Most divisions with an improving placement of waste facilities were located near the Canada-US border. The presences of major cities and total division population appear not key factors affecting the evolution of waste facility siting.