Turning urban hard wastes into assets
Shamim Ara Begum | Thursday, 12 June 2008
THE sound of Manik Miah's whistle is heard everyday at noon in sector five of Uttara, Dhaka. Manik and his two assistants collect rubbish from houses of the area. He says there is something special in their garbage collection.
The people of this neighbourhood keep organic (rotting) and inorganic (non-rotting) parts of wastes separately, making it easier for them to collect those separately.
"This arrangement has been made because the trashes are used for recycling. Most of the rubbish are rotting ones. Fertilisers are produced from the rotting wastes while inorganic ones are sold off." Manik Miah says.
This has been possible because of an association, set up by the residents of Uttara. The association got the idea of waste management from a non-government organisation (NGO) named Western Concern. This organisation has begun producing organic fertiliser commercially using garbage.
Though some other NGOs collect garbage from the capital's different areas. Western Concern is the only one that is producing fertiliser, Currently, it is working in Dhaka's four areas- Mirpur, Green Road, Dhalpur and Kanchpur.
Along with the developed countries, many developing countries like China, India, Indonesia and the Philippines also recycle garbage for reuse. With the organic parts of the wastes, they produce organic fertiliser, biogas, electricity, etc. Separating the inorganic part, they are making the whole of it suitable for reuse.
Though not on large scale, efforts are on in Bangladesh for quite some time to utilise garbage. Initiatives are particularly being taken to produce fertiliser from organic part of hard wastes of urban areas and use the inorganic part containing plastic, lead, glass and different types of metals. Experts think with appropriate initiatives it is possible to utilise the whole of hard wastes.
A large number of rural people are migrating to towns in search of jobs. And the number is on the rise. According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, only 4.33 per cent of the population used to live in towns in 1951 and it rose to 24 per cent in 2001.
There is a link between the increase in populace and that of wastes. If population increases, urbanisation goes up along with economic activities, resulting in increased generation of wastes.
According to the World Bank (WB), 1.742 tons of wastes used to be generated everyday in urban areas of Bangladesh in 1995. This went up to 13,200 tons in 2005. says Western Concern. The amount of wastes is gradually increasing with the increase in population.
The waste management is very important for the environment and protecting the public health. City corporations and municipalities are responsible for the waste management. But, their standard of service has not improved in line with the growing population.
The allocated money for city corporations and municipalities for waste management and infrastructure is too inadequate. Besides, there is always a complaint of inadequate manpower, trucks and vans for transportation of wastes and containers to keep wastes temporarily.
Field surveys by different city corporations like Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and West Concern show that the country's city corporations and municipalities have the capacity of managing only 55 per cent of the total wastes. So, about half of the wastes generated in urban areas remain uncollected. They remain littered on roads, drains and lowlands, creating a public nuisance.
Besides, the whole process starting from collection to dumping through which city corporations and municipalities manage about 50 per cent of the wastes is full of errors.
In a town, the main sources of waste generation are domestic works, business centres, industries, factories, dusts, constructional materials, kitchen markets, hospitals and clinics. Of them, the amount of domestic waste is the highest.
Under the process followed by city corporations and municipalities, organic and inorganic wastes are not separated. These two types of wastes are dumped in open dump-sites, where poor people look for food or inorganic materials like plastic, iron, glass, etc. Animals and birds also visit these open dumpsites, polluting the environment. Due to this faulty process of waste management, rubbish pickers also face various health problems.
Mixing of wastes under the open sky and rainwater create a liquid substance called lichet that mixes with underground water. It contains chloride, lead, bronze, sodium etc. Lichet is mainly blamed for water pollution. Besides, there is a huge emission of greenhouse gas like methane, carbon dioxide and so on for the excessive presence of organic materials in the dumpsites. Theses gases are increasing the overall temperature of the world by damaging ozone layer.
So, it is now clear that just dumping wastes outside centres of cities and towns is not an effective solution. Therefore, wastes will have to be utilised as best as possible. A research done by West Concern in 2005 shows 80 per cent of wastes generated in urban areas is organic from which fertiliser can be produced. Of the remaining 20 per cent inorganic waste, 6.0 per cent can be made suitable for reuse. Only 14 per cent of the wastes are to be dumped. Since most of the wastes can be utilised, the issue of using wastes must be given a serious consideration.
If wastes are properly utilised, a large number of urban poor can be employed in the waste recycling jobs. Statistics provided by West Concern show that it is possible to create jobs for 16,000 people, if wastes of Dhaka city can be utilised. There will be employment's for 90,000 people if all the total wastes generated in urban areas can be used.
Reprocessing is a sustainable strategy to reduce garbage, as it requires less space for waste dumping. So, wastes can be dumped on dump-sites or landfills for a long time. If reprocessing can be done, the unnecessary inorganic part (only 14 per cent) will go to dump-sites. This will reduce environment pollution and health hazards. Greenhouse gas emission will stop from dump-sites.
According to experts, for reprocessing, separation in the source is very important because this allows the maximum use of wastes. Currently, residents have to pay for the collection of wastes.
If a system can be introduced where communities concerned and NGOs will have to buy the wastes from the local residents, then they will be more active in separating the organic and inorganic wastes on their own. This will ensure the use of most of the wastes.
About producing fertiliser from organic wastes, the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) engineer Dr Tarique bin Yusuf says: "In order to make the programme of producing fertiliser from wastes, emphasis has to be given on issues like creating demand for organic fertiliser, marketing and prices so that farmers can get it easily at a reasonable price."
As per United Nations Environment Programmed (UNEP), there will be no existence of any landfill by 2040. And there will have to be insinuators for poisonous wastes.
As a signatory to it, it is obligatory for Bangladesh to protect the environment. It will be possible to achieve the UNEP goal, if the issue of recycling wastes receives proper government attention and cooperation.
................................................
By courtesy: News Network
The people of this neighbourhood keep organic (rotting) and inorganic (non-rotting) parts of wastes separately, making it easier for them to collect those separately.
"This arrangement has been made because the trashes are used for recycling. Most of the rubbish are rotting ones. Fertilisers are produced from the rotting wastes while inorganic ones are sold off." Manik Miah says.
This has been possible because of an association, set up by the residents of Uttara. The association got the idea of waste management from a non-government organisation (NGO) named Western Concern. This organisation has begun producing organic fertiliser commercially using garbage.
Though some other NGOs collect garbage from the capital's different areas. Western Concern is the only one that is producing fertiliser, Currently, it is working in Dhaka's four areas- Mirpur, Green Road, Dhalpur and Kanchpur.
Along with the developed countries, many developing countries like China, India, Indonesia and the Philippines also recycle garbage for reuse. With the organic parts of the wastes, they produce organic fertiliser, biogas, electricity, etc. Separating the inorganic part, they are making the whole of it suitable for reuse.
Though not on large scale, efforts are on in Bangladesh for quite some time to utilise garbage. Initiatives are particularly being taken to produce fertiliser from organic part of hard wastes of urban areas and use the inorganic part containing plastic, lead, glass and different types of metals. Experts think with appropriate initiatives it is possible to utilise the whole of hard wastes.
A large number of rural people are migrating to towns in search of jobs. And the number is on the rise. According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, only 4.33 per cent of the population used to live in towns in 1951 and it rose to 24 per cent in 2001.
There is a link between the increase in populace and that of wastes. If population increases, urbanisation goes up along with economic activities, resulting in increased generation of wastes.
According to the World Bank (WB), 1.742 tons of wastes used to be generated everyday in urban areas of Bangladesh in 1995. This went up to 13,200 tons in 2005. says Western Concern. The amount of wastes is gradually increasing with the increase in population.
The waste management is very important for the environment and protecting the public health. City corporations and municipalities are responsible for the waste management. But, their standard of service has not improved in line with the growing population.
The allocated money for city corporations and municipalities for waste management and infrastructure is too inadequate. Besides, there is always a complaint of inadequate manpower, trucks and vans for transportation of wastes and containers to keep wastes temporarily.
Field surveys by different city corporations like Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and West Concern show that the country's city corporations and municipalities have the capacity of managing only 55 per cent of the total wastes. So, about half of the wastes generated in urban areas remain uncollected. They remain littered on roads, drains and lowlands, creating a public nuisance.
Besides, the whole process starting from collection to dumping through which city corporations and municipalities manage about 50 per cent of the wastes is full of errors.
In a town, the main sources of waste generation are domestic works, business centres, industries, factories, dusts, constructional materials, kitchen markets, hospitals and clinics. Of them, the amount of domestic waste is the highest.
Under the process followed by city corporations and municipalities, organic and inorganic wastes are not separated. These two types of wastes are dumped in open dump-sites, where poor people look for food or inorganic materials like plastic, iron, glass, etc. Animals and birds also visit these open dumpsites, polluting the environment. Due to this faulty process of waste management, rubbish pickers also face various health problems.
Mixing of wastes under the open sky and rainwater create a liquid substance called lichet that mixes with underground water. It contains chloride, lead, bronze, sodium etc. Lichet is mainly blamed for water pollution. Besides, there is a huge emission of greenhouse gas like methane, carbon dioxide and so on for the excessive presence of organic materials in the dumpsites. Theses gases are increasing the overall temperature of the world by damaging ozone layer.
So, it is now clear that just dumping wastes outside centres of cities and towns is not an effective solution. Therefore, wastes will have to be utilised as best as possible. A research done by West Concern in 2005 shows 80 per cent of wastes generated in urban areas is organic from which fertiliser can be produced. Of the remaining 20 per cent inorganic waste, 6.0 per cent can be made suitable for reuse. Only 14 per cent of the wastes are to be dumped. Since most of the wastes can be utilised, the issue of using wastes must be given a serious consideration.
If wastes are properly utilised, a large number of urban poor can be employed in the waste recycling jobs. Statistics provided by West Concern show that it is possible to create jobs for 16,000 people, if wastes of Dhaka city can be utilised. There will be employment's for 90,000 people if all the total wastes generated in urban areas can be used.
Reprocessing is a sustainable strategy to reduce garbage, as it requires less space for waste dumping. So, wastes can be dumped on dump-sites or landfills for a long time. If reprocessing can be done, the unnecessary inorganic part (only 14 per cent) will go to dump-sites. This will reduce environment pollution and health hazards. Greenhouse gas emission will stop from dump-sites.
According to experts, for reprocessing, separation in the source is very important because this allows the maximum use of wastes. Currently, residents have to pay for the collection of wastes.
If a system can be introduced where communities concerned and NGOs will have to buy the wastes from the local residents, then they will be more active in separating the organic and inorganic wastes on their own. This will ensure the use of most of the wastes.
About producing fertiliser from organic wastes, the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) engineer Dr Tarique bin Yusuf says: "In order to make the programme of producing fertiliser from wastes, emphasis has to be given on issues like creating demand for organic fertiliser, marketing and prices so that farmers can get it easily at a reasonable price."
As per United Nations Environment Programmed (UNEP), there will be no existence of any landfill by 2040. And there will have to be insinuators for poisonous wastes.
As a signatory to it, it is obligatory for Bangladesh to protect the environment. It will be possible to achieve the UNEP goal, if the issue of recycling wastes receives proper government attention and cooperation.
................................................
By courtesy: News Network