Dhaka is the world?s most densely populated city with staggering 16,235,000 people. With this huge and increasing population the authorities are struggling to maintain an effective waste management system in the City. Recently a study Titled ?A Review of Solid Waste Management Practice in Dhaka City, Bangladesh?By Suraiya Yasmin and Md Imranur Rahman highlighted the current waste management system in this city with really alarming results. I this report I am writing about some important features of that study regarding the waste management of Dhaka City.

Waste Management Practice in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Dhaka City Corporation is primarily responsible for collecting and managing waste in Dhaka, Bangladesh. A significant amount of waste in Dhaka is not collected due to lack of infrastructure, funds and collection vehicles. Despites Dhaka?s limited waste management service, community based door-to-door waste collection from households to local waste bins is considered as a success. Informal waste recycling systems is also highly effective in waste recycling and job creations for the poor. creations for the poor. In case of household sector, wastes are typically collected in a non-segregated manner and placed into the slender containers at the households. Organizations outsourced by City Corporation collect the waste in vans through vanmen on payment basis and carry to the secondary collection points (containers or designated sites). Subsequently, the waste is carried by various sizes of trucks (of City Corporation or private organization authorized by the city Corporation) to the landfill sites. In this connection, an informal market operates to recycle a significant portion of the solid waste. The roles of the Tokai or scavengers and door step, Hawkers are worth mentioning. Scavengers collect the recyclable items from both the landfills and open waste bins and finally sell it to a recycle waste dealer (Bhangari). The items are then washed, dried and sorted by the recycling dealers and traded in the market. Besides the scavengers, the Hawkers buy recyclables from door to door and trade with the Bhangari (receivables buyers).

City Corporation in general, does not provide any waste management services in these areas. In case of city streets, the process of waste management is quite different. The city corporation through its cleaners (permanents and temporary) undertakes the cleaning of public places (roads, drains and parks etc) on a daily basis. Unlike household and public place waste management, commercial waste management is far complicated. The waste collected from the city is disposed to the final destination at land filling sites. Two important initiatives have been undertaken for Solid Waste Management (SWM) in Dhaka. One initiative was undertaken by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in 2005 with the objectives of formulating a master plan of Dhaka City and to develop capabilities and management skills of the Dhaka City Corporation. Another initiative, 3R Strategy was undertaken in 2010 by Department of Environment (DoE), Ministry of Environment and Forestry of the Government. The principle of reducing, reusing and recycling of resources and products is often called the 3Rs. Towards sustainable waste management, 3Rs can play a vital role to protect environment from greenhouse gas emission and convert waste into invaluable resources. countries.

The Dhaka City Cooperation estimated that, of the total daily generation of 3500 tons of solid waste, 1800 tons are collected and dumped by the city corporation, 900 tons go to backyard and land filling, 400 tons go to road side and open space, 300 tons are recycled by the Tokais (mostly the children of slum dwellers), and 100 tons are recycled at the generation point.

Reference:  Suraiya Yasmin, Md Imranur Rahman. A Review of Solid Waste Management Practice in Dhaka City, Bangladesh. International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy. Vol. 5, No. 2, 2017, pp. 19-25. doi: 10.11648/j.ijepp.20170502.11