municipal solid waste management in dhaka city ...

M Alamgir,QH Bari, QS Hossain, IM Rafizul, KMM Hasan, G Sarkar & MK Howlader (Eds.) ISBN: 978-984-33-0761-3, Vol. 01, pp. 255-263

Proceeding of the International Conference on Solid Waste Management: Technical, Environmental and Socio-economical Contexts - WasteSafe 2009 9 to 10 November 2009, Khulna, Bangladesh

Municipal Solid Waste Management in Dhaka City: Case Study M. M. Rahman1, A. M. Shadullah2 and A. K. M. M. H. Khan2 1

Department of Civil Engineering, Khulna University of Engineering & Technology (KUET) Khulna-9203, Bangladesh 2 Department of Civil Engineering, Ahsanullah University of Science & Technology (AUST) Dhaka, Bangladesh ABSTRACT The paper illustrates that Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) remains unmanageable in the Dhaka City. To understand the solid waste management, 36 and 41 no wards of Dhaka City were selected as study area. The present MSW collection system of the study area is inadequate and inefficient. By extensive data collection it has been observed that only 70% to 80% of the total generated waste is collected and disposed of per day by Dhaka City Corporation (DCC). The rest of the wastes remain on the roadside bins and curbside creating unhealthy environment. In addition, based on the experimental results it was found that the waste generation varies from 0.110 to 0.142 kg/capita/day. The generation rate also increases with the income level due to more consumption. Majority of the respondent preferred house to house collection. Finally, it can be concluded that the collection time and frequency should be such that maximum amount of waste is collected from the source. Different area may be covered by different collection time and frequency.

INTRODUCTION The increasing quantity of solid wastes is a growing environmental problem in developing countries. Compared to cities and towns of industrialized countries, those of developing countries generate less solid wastes per capita because, in developing countries, people have less purchasing power and therefore consume less, there is less industrial activity and there is a very high rate of refuse of solid wastes by the poorer sections of the community. Despite this, large volumes of solid wastes are produced and constitute an enormous public health and environmental problem in most developing countries. Unplanned and inadequate collections of solid wastes contribute greatly to an unhealthy environment. Solid waste management today is considered to be one of the most immediate and serious problems of environment, confronting urban local government in developing countries. Long experience states the failure and efficiencies of local government by hundred’s of year in solid waste management. Dhaka is the largest metropolitan city in Bangladesh. The significance of the study is increasing day by day for its socioeconomic role, which help to the overall development of Bangladesh. The solid waste management in Dhaka City is an acute problem. The roads and street remain dirty and create serious environmental pollution (Ahmed, 2000). The total daily wastes generated in DCC areas is about 5400 tons, in which residential, commercial and institutional wastes are about 4048,1178 and 62 tons, respectively. Residential waste is the main portion of solid wastes streams which is about 76% of total wastes. It is time to take necessary action to overcome the solid waste management problems and make a sustainable solid waste management system for Dhaka Metropolitan City. As local government failed to manage the solid waste, community participation is necessary for better addressing of this problem. As long as the city would continue to grow, the amount of waste would grow proportionately. Solid Wastes Management (SWM) in the country is still in its primitive stage. The conservancy by the DCC with a century old mechanism has proved to be inadequate to meet the present demand. If proper solid waste management plan is not taken for growing metropolis of Dhaka, it will cause severe gradation of urban environment and pollution problem. As such waste management is one of the key areas of concern for urban sanitation and cleanliness for healthier metropolitan development. It is

therefore, highly desirable to study solid waste management system of Dhaka City for better planning and management of solid wastes from environmental view point and sustainable development.

CHARACTERIZATION OF THE STUDY AREA Because of limitation of time and resource, it was fully impossible to survey the whole of the city. For this reason, to understand the solid waste management and thaw traditional means of response of the people towards solid waste management, 36 and 41 no ward is selected.

GENERAL INFORMATION OF WARD NO 36 Ward No. 36 under Zone- 4 of the DCC area, and covering the area of North Shajahanpur, South Shajahanpur and Shajahanpur railway colony. As per DCC (2005),- there are 16,550 households, 70,781 total population with 38,930 male and 31,851 female in this ward. This ward is almost flood free area. In this ward 3 primary schools, 1 Govt. degree college, 1 private hospital, 5 mosques, 1 kacha bazaar and 1 NGO. Mainly middle and lower middle class people mostly live in this area. However higher middle class people also live in North Shajahanpur. The municipal solid wastes (MSW) are disposed in the designated concrete dustbin and container provided by the City Corporation. Local in initiatives are very active in this ward for door-to-door collection of wastes by dividing the whole zone into 5 segments. Total 18 rickshaw vans, 28 staffs are engaged in this system. The residence are paying monthly fees varies on economic condition, usually 20 TK to 30 TK. DCC collects wastes from secondary sites. Since some ditches are filled with MSW as like small dumping sites. Major concern is the medical wastes generated at Islamic Bank Hospital, which are disposed in the special type of pick-up van carefully (dhakacity.org).

GENERAL INFORMATION OF WARD NO 41 Ward no 41, under Zone-6 of the DCC area, and covering the area of Agargaon, Taltola Govt. Colony, Shamoli Road 1& 2 and Amlertak. As per DCC (2005), there are 20,750 households, 87,240 total populations with 46,249 male and 40,991 female, in this ward. This ward is almost a flood free area. In this ward, there are 3 Government High Schools, 1 Technical College and 1 Government Hospital. Some important offices like Local Government Engineering Division (LGED), Passport office, Bureau of Statistics, SPERSO, Abhawa (Weather) Bhaban, Science Museum, etc. One of the biggest colony of the city. Taltola Govt. staff quarter with an area 10 acres land is located in this ward. Mainly middle and lower middle class people mostly live in this area. However, higher middle class people also live in Shamoli Road Nos.1 & 2. The municipal solid wastes (MSW) are disposed in the designated concrete dustbin and container provided by the city corporation. Local initiatives are very active in this ward for door-to-door collection of wastes by dividing the whole zone into 4 segments. Total Rickshaw vans and 21 staffs are engaged in this system. The residence are paying a monthly fee varies on economic condition. DCC collect wastes from the secondary sites. Since some ditches are filled with MSW as like small dumping sites. Major concern is the medical wastes generated at National Orthopedic Hospital and other health care facilities, which are disposed the wastes in the same dustbin of MSW in mix condition (dhakacity.org).

DATA COLLECTION This study is based on collected field data, questionnaire survey and literature review to identify the present stature of solid waste management in a typical city area of Bangladesh mainly ward no 36 and 41 of Dhaka City Corporation.

DATA COLLECTION FROM THE SELECTED HOUSES To determine the total generation of solid waste of the 36 & 41 no wards from the households, three houses were selected from each ward from which solid waste was measured regularly. Four buckets was supplied to household to store their waste in the bucket.  Biodegradable waste: Biodegradable wastes are the wastes which are biologically degradable and mainly produced in the kitchen. e.g. vegetables, food waste, fish scales, meat etc.  Reusable waste: These are the wastes, which can be used again after its original use is ended for the same purpose or other use. e.g. reusable bottles, ash from kitchen and reusable bags . 256

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Table 1 Capacity of waste bins and waste category No of bins 1 1 1 1  

Capacity (liter) 20 12 5 5

Type of waste Biodegradable waste Reusable waste Non-reusable waste Other waste

Non-reusable waste: These are the waste, which can not be used again for the same purpose or other use. e.g. paper, cosmetic bottle etc. Other waste: These are mainly metals, glass, plastic, can etc (Techobanoglous, 2002).

SAMPLE SURVEY OF STUDY AREA FOR PRIMARY DATA COLLECTION A sample survey was conducted in the 36 no & 41 no wards to account for the total generation of solid waste in the whole ward. Data was collected on the residential, households no and beneficiaries are shown in table 2 & table 3. Table 2 Residential areas of 36 no ward Ward No 36

Area North Shajahanpur South Shajahanpur Shajahanpur railway colony

Total

Households 2,979 3,641 9,930 16,550

Beneficiaries 11,728 17,307 41,746 70,781

Table 3 Residential areas of 41 no ward Ward No

41 Total

Area Agargaon Taltola Govt. Colony Shamoli Road 1 Shamoli Road 2 Amlertak

Households 4,150 7,263 3,735 3,320 2,282 20,750

Beneficiaries 17,448 30,534 15,703 13,959 9,596 87,240

With the increase of total quantity of solid waste, it is estimated that 60% to 80% of total cost of solid waste management is spent on the collection page alone. Hence, a small percentage improvement in the collection operation can lead to a significant saving in the overall coat. There are several method used for collection of solid waste such as Community collection, Block collection, Curb- side collection House-to-house collection. A sample survey was conducted in the 36 no & 41 no wards to account for the opinion of the public in waste collection system. 100 people of each ward were interviewed for collecting data. Table 4 Households performance to solid waste collection system Households performance to solid waste collection system House to house collection Choice of respondent Curb side collection Block collection Communal collection

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Collection (%) 88 1.73 1.03 9.24

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Table 5 Desired collection frequency of solid waste collection system Desired collection frequency of solid waste collection system Twice a day Frequency Daily After day Every two days

Collection (%) 14.5 85 0.5 Nil

Table 6 Time of collection preferred Time of collection preferred

Collection (%)

Morning Noon Afternoon Evening

Collection time

14.33 28.4 49.38 7.89

RESULTS Solid Waste Generation Rate and Physical Composition in the Study Area Average total per capita waste generation rate of households in ward no 36 is 0.142kg/capita/day. Average total per capita waste generation rate of households in ward no 41 is 0.110kg/capita/day. It may be seen that a major portion (80% - 90%) of solid waste in residential, commercial and market areas of Dhaka City is organic. This indicates the potentials of recycling of organic waste for resource recovery. Domestic waste generation rate which is proportional to the income rate are shown in figure 7&8. The average values of different types of wastes are shown in table 9&10. And percentages of different types of wastes are shown in figure 3 & 4. Table 7 Summary of waste generated from three houses income level in ward 36

Waste generation rate (kg/cap/day)

House no 1 2 3 4 5

Income level About 5,000 About 12,000 About 17,000 About 20,000 About 22,000

Waste generation rate (kg/cap/day) 0.098 0.118 0.123 0.183 0.185

0.2 0.18 0.16 0.14 0.12 0.1 0.08 0.06 0.04 0.02 0 0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

Income (Tk.)

Figure 1 Domestic waste generation rate of 36 no Ward

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Table 8 Summary of waste generated from three houses income level in ward 41 House no 1 2 3 4 5

Income level About 5,000 About 12,000 About 17,000 About 20,000 About 22,000

Waste generation rate (kg/cap/day) 0.068 0.082 0.095 0.151 0.152

Waste generation rate (kg/cap/day)

0.16 0.14 0.12 0.1 0.08 0.06 0.04 0.02 0 0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

Income (Tk.)

Figure 2 Domestic waste generation rate of 41 no Ward Table 9 Average value of different types of wastes in 36 no ward Type of wastes Biodegradable waste Reusable waste Non-reusable waste Other waste Total

Average value, kg/cap/day 0.149 0.0013 0.0023 0.0023 0.1549

0.84

1.48

(%) by weight 96.20 0.84 1.48 1.48 100%

1.48

Biodegrable waste Reusable waste Non reusable waste other waste 96.2

Figure 3 Percentage of different types of waste of 36 no Ward

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Table 10 Average value of different types of wastes in 41 no ward Type of wastes Biodegradable waste Reusable waste Non-reusable waste Other waste Total

Average value, kg/cap/day 0.124 0.0057 0.0023 0.0014 0.1334

4.27

1.72

(%) by weight 92.95 4.27 1.72 1.06 100

1.06

Biodegrable waste Reusable waste Non reusable waste other waste 92.95

Figure 4 Percentage of different types of waste of 41 no Ward

TOTAL GENERATION OF SOLID WASTE IN THE STUDY AREA Generation of solid waste in different households was achieved previously by measuring waste of six houses. Generation of solid wastes in other sources such as shops, institution, business center, and hospital was found by field survey. Table 11 Total generation of solid waste in 36 no ward Source Household Shops Institution Business center Hospital/Clinic Total

Collected solid waste (ton/day) 1.785 1.253 0.036 0.048 0.021 3.143

Table 12 Total generation of solid waste in 41 no ward Source Household Shops Institution Business center Hospital/Clinic Total


COLLECTION OF SOLID WASTE IN THE STUDY AREA It has been seen that actual generated solid waste from various source of study area is not properly collected. Hence, therefore amount of collected solid waste is less than that amount of generated solid waste. Table 13 & table 14 indicate the total collection in the study area. 260

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Table 13 Collected solid waste from various source in 36 no ward (DCC) Source Household Shops Institution Business center Hospital/Clinic Total


Table 14 Collected solid waste from various source in 41 no ward (DCC) Source

Collected solid waste (ton/day)

Household Shops Institution Business center Hospital/Clinic Total

1.583 1.362 0.118 0.039 0.101 3.203

PROPER MEDICAL WASTE MANAGEMENT IN THE STUDY AREA Medical waste has become a major health hazard in many countries including Bangladesh at various divisions. So Dhaka is not out of this effect. Medical waste generated by hospitals, clinics and pathological laboratories. In 36 no ward solid waste presently being disposed in the special type of pick-up van carefully but in 41 no ward solid being disposed of carelessly by generators. These may cause deadly diseases like HIV and Hepatitis among the people who may get infected unknowingly by coming contact with such waste. At present there is no regulation by the authorities to control collection, storage, treatment and disposal of medical waste. As a result medical wastes are indiscriminately disposed near hospital, clinic and pathological laboratories.

CONTRIBUTION OF NGO’s Several NGO’s are working in different area of Dhaka City for the management of solid waste with DCC. In 36 no ward Samannito Shishu Shastha Songstha (Integrated Child Health Organization) and in 41 no ward Environmental Cleaning Illiteracy and Anti Drag Organization have been working for several years. They mainly collect waste from house to house in different para/mahalla by small van (manually driven) and store the waste in road side bins. From the storage bins DCC truck collect the waste and dump it in ultimate disposal site. By giving this service the NGO’s take about 10 to 20 Tk per house.

ULTIMATE DISPOSAL OF SOLID WASTE Ultimately the collected solid wastes should be disposed properly. There mainly alternative waste disposal methods may be employed. But in existing solid waste management system of the study area, disposal on land is most common and widely used. The safe and reliable long term disposal of solid wastes is an important component of integrated waste management. Although source reduction, reuse, recycling and composting can divert significant portion of MSW, large amount of wastes still needs to be placed in landfills. The sites are situated in and around the city areas of low-lying open spaces, unclaimed land, riverbanks and roadsides. DCC operate three sites, namely, Matuail, Gabtali and Uttara. The sites are located in and around city areas. All types of MSW are deposed including some portions clinical/hospital wastes Crude open dumping sites are always incompatible with the surroundings. The exposed wastes spreads all over the site are unsightly as no proper system maintain for filling the area. Wind blows litter and indiscriminate the dumping waste outside the site and on the surrounding pond and adjacent surface water. Every site poses high threat to health and environment. Upgrading of existing UDS based on the available local materials and technologies and controlled disposal of MSW can be considered as key sustainable issues to reduce the level of contamination and other hazards. WasteSafe 2009

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Environment pollution at open dumping site includes air pollution, water and soil contamination due to propagation of generated leachate, emission of landfill gases, odors, dust and potential fire hazard etc. The uncontrolled burning of solid waste creates smoke and other air pollution. Garbage nuisance conditions are also pose higher risk for human beings. As the wastes deposition continues and the major parts of disposed wastes are biodegradable organic wastes, landfill gases generate continuously. But there is no provision for the control of gases in the existing sites, causing risk of explosion and fire hazard. In UDS, leachate percolates and contaminates surface and ground water. In some sites, the sources of groundwater are very close to UDS. Peoples are uses this water in various purposes such as bathing, washing, drinking and farming. Surface water is also contaminated because solid wastes are being dumped near/at the marshy land, ponds, rivers and canals. Contaminated water is harmful for fish and aquatic lives by reducing the amount of oxygen in the water. Chemical and oil spills, which are mixed with MSW, also cause water contamination. As one of the most densely populated countries and heavy pressure of new inhabitants in the cities, city authorities are facing severe problems to get new sites for ultimate disposal. Due to nonengineered situation, the existing sites are also going to early closure. Peoples are also protested to close some existing sites are also going to early closure. Peoples are also protested to close some existing sites because of their hazards nature. Even the city authority tries to buy some land for this purpose hiding real information to the adjacent inhabitants. So, the existing practices i.e. open dumping for ultimate disposal will not get the support from concerned stakeholders in future. The city authority might think about the upgradation of existing sites to control the present situation and proposed full environment friendly future disposal sites in accordance with local conditions and technological capabilities (Alamgir, 2005).

DISCUSSIONS The study revels that generation of solid wastes depends on the income level of the people. Detailed data collection from five houses of each ward also shows that when income level is higher, solid waste generation rate is also higher. From table 11, 12 total generated solid wastes in the study area, 36 and 41 no ward, are found to be 3.143 and 4.448 ton per day respectively and from table 13, 14 total collected solid waste in the study area, 36 and 41 no ward, are 2.461 and 3.203 ton per day, that means, 72% to 79% of total generated solid waste is collected from various source. Various type of solid waste like paper, glass, plastic, metal, cloth, food and vegetable product, polythene, garden waste, tin/can are generated in study area. A major portion (80% - 90%) of solid waste is organic. This indicates the potentials of recycling of organic waste for resource recovery. About (70% - 80%) of generated solid waste is collected from various sources. Solid waste management system today is considered to be one of the most immediate and serious problems of environment, confronting urban local government in developing countries. Long experience states the failure and inefficiencies of Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) by hundred of years in solid waste management. DCC is not fully successful in solid waste management. During field survey some of disorder has been observed through various stages of existing management system such as lack of effective sanitation, poor supervision of DCC stuff and not collecting waste from bins. As few numbers of NGO’s are working in the study area, condition of existing solid waste management system is improving day by day.

CONCLUSIONS The present waste collection system of the study area is inadequate and inefficient. By extensive data collection it has been observed that only 70% to 80% of the total generated waste is collected and disposed per day by DCC. The rest of the wastes remain on the roadside bins or curbside creating unhealthy environment all around such as bad odor, soiled street and aesthetically problem. To solve the problem DCC need to find a proper solid waste management system in the Dhaka City. More over NGO’s may play a certain role by involving the community in the waste management system. The waste generation rate in the study area varies from 0.110 to 0.142 kg/capita/day. The generation rate also increases with the income level, as it should be due to more consumption. Majority of the respondent in the study area preferred house to house collection. The collection time and frequency should be such that maximum amount of waste is collected from the source. Different area may be covered by different collection time and frequency. If possible a waste recycling plant may be established for better resource recovery from solid waste.

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REFFERENCES Ahmed, M. F. and Rahman, M. M. (2000). Water Supply & Sanitation: Rural and Low Income urban Communities. ITN-Bangladesh, Center for Water Supply and Waste management, ISBN 984-310936-8, BUET, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Ahmed, M.F. (1991), “Municipal Waste Management In Bangladesh with Emphasis on Recycling”, Published in “Aspects of Solid Waste Management - Bangladesh Context”, German Cultural Centre, Dhaka. Alamgir, M., Mcdonald, C., Roehl, K.E., Ahsan, A. (2005). Integrated Management and Safe Disposal of Municipal Solid Waste in Least Development Asian Countries: A Feasibility Study. Wastesafe, ISBN 984-32-3003-5, KUET, Khulna, Bangladesh Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS). 2002. “ Statistical Pocket Book of Bangladesh.” Dhaka: Statistical Division, Ministry of Planning Cointreau, S. J. (1986), “Environmental Management of Urban Solid Waste in Developing Countries.” A project Guide, The World Bank, Washigton DC, USA. http://www.dhakacity.org Techobanoglous,G. and Kreith, F.(2002). Handbook of solid waste management, McGraw-Hill, ISBN 0-07-135623-1, New York.

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