SOLIDWASTEDISPOSALANDCOLLECTIONSYSTEMIN

PAKISTAN

SolidwastedisposalandcollectionsysteminPakistan
SaadIqbal

Friday,April11,2014

SolidWasteisbasicallydefinedasamaterialwhichhasnovalueforthepeople,the
peoplethemselvesareresponsibleforthistrashandisnotcarriedthroughsewerage
pipesandasthenamesuggestsisinsolidform.Thereareanumberofsourcesfrom
whichsolidwasteisgenerated,distributionofsolidwastevariesfromareatoarea,
andfewofthemareDomestic,Commercial,Industrial,healthcare,agriculturaland
mineralextractionactivitiesandaccumulatesinhousesandotherplaces.

SolidWasteManagementSysteminPakistan

SomeotherkeywordsthatareconsideredassimilartothisincludeGarbage,trash
andrubbish.
Nowifwetalkaboutthemanagementofthissolidwaste,termedassolidwaste
management,wemeanitasgeneration,separation,collection,transfer,
transportationanddisposalofwasteinawaythattakesinto
accountpublichealth,economics,conservation,aesthetics,andtheenvironment,
andisresponsivetopublicdemands.

CommonTypesofWastemostlygenerated
Themostcommontypesofsolidwasteare:
Municipalsolidwaste

Industrialwaste
Agriculturalwaste
Hazardouswaste
Thesolidwastecompositionvariesfromregiontoregionandtimetotime.There
arefollowingdifferenttypesofwaste.
Biodegradablewastei.e.couldbedecomposednaturallysuchasfoodandkitchen
waste,greenwaste,paper,etc.
Recyclablemateriali.e.couldberecycledagainandagainsuchaspaper,glass,
bottles,cans,metals,certainplastics,fabrics,clothes,batteriesetc.
Inertwastei.e.notliabletodecomposesuchasconstructionanddemolitionwaste,
dirt,rocks,debris,etc.
Electricalandelectronicwaste(WEEE)suchaselectricalappliances,TVs,
computers,screens,etc.
Compositewastessuchaswasteclothing,TetraPacks,wasteplastic,etc.
Domestichazardouswaste&toxicwastemedicationsuchaspaints,chemicals,
lightbulbs,fluorescenttubes,spraycans,fertilizerandpesticidecontainers,shoe
polish,etc.

FailureofSWMinPakistan
Theconsequencesoffailureofthissolidwastemanagementsystemaredisastrous
forthehealthofthecommunityandthesmoothrunningoflifeinthatregion.
Somecommonproblemsasseenbecauseofthisfailureincludes,landandair
pollution,blockageofdrainsandwaterpollutioninnaturalstreams.
Factorsaffectingsolidwastemanagement
Thesuccessorfailureofthismanagementsystemisdependentonmanyfactorsand
manyareasaretheretobeconsideredlikepublicawarenessbecauseyoucanthold
ofthegarbagethrowneverysecondonthelocalstreetbythesocallededucated
humans,similarlyduetoincreaseofpopulationthereisanunplannedcitygrowth
thatcausestroublesanddifficultiesfortheauthoritiestohandlesuchalargeamount
ofgarbage.MostlyincitiesandmunicipalitiesinPakistantherearealthoughno
propersystemofdisposalmanagementorevenifitistherethemaintenanceand
properfunctioningarenotuptothemark.Theotherveryimportantfactortobe
consideredistherateofurbanizationwiththeadvancementsanddevelopment
incountriesthecommunitiesareshiftingfromruralareasandurbanareasandthus
moreutilizationofadvanceproductsandthusmoregarbageisthere.

SolidWasteCollectionsysteminPakistanandits
effects
InPakistantheabsenceofapropersolidwastedisposalsystemandhugeamountof

uncollectedwastespossesgreatthreattothepublichealthastheyarethesourceof
mosquitoesandcholerawhichtransmitmalariaandcholeralateron.Oneofavery
hazardousandunnoticeddrawbackofthewastedisposalinPakistanisthathospital
andindustrialwasteistreatedasordinarywaste.
Theconditionofwastemanagementsystemfromthecollectionofwastetoits
properdisposalis,toputitmildly,patheticinPakistan.Only50%ofsolidwaste
quantitiesgeneratedarecollectedbygovernmentservices.However,forcitiestobe
clean,atleast70%ofthesequantitiesshouldbecollected.
Increaseinthesolidwasteisduetoincreaseinurbanpopulation,industrialization,
changingconsumptionpatternandalsoeffluentlifestyle.Duetothesetrendsmany
citiesareunabletocopewithincreasevolumeofsolidwaste,especiallyinmiddle
andlowincomecountries.Duringthelateperiodof1900sannualwaste
productionrangedfrom300800kgperpersoninmanydevelopedcountriestoless
than200perkgperpersoninlessdevelopedcountries.
InPakistansolidwastemanagementisasignificantproblembeingfaced.Despiteof
thefactthattherearemanypolicesbeingformulatedfortheprotectionofthe
environmentfromsolidwastebutthesepoliciesareonlyimplementedincities.In
ruralareasofPakistanmostlyopendumpingisdone.
Anumberofmunicipalitieshavedeployedsweepersforwastecollectionbutthe
serviceisreportedtobeirregularandlimitedtoprominentadministrativeor
commercialareas.Citizensarenotprovidedwithenoughrubbishbins.Infact,
thosebinscanonlybefoundalongthemainroads.Thosewholivefurtheraway
prefernottotakethetrouble:themajorityofhomewasteendsupbeingthrown
awayonemptyplots.
SolidWasteManagementconsistsofvariousstagesincludingprimarycollection
thatisdonefromhouseholdtodustbinsitesmanually.Secondarycollectionis
donefromdustbinsitestolandfillsitesmechanicallyandfinaldisposalisat
landfillsites.
IntegratedSolidWastemanagement(ISWM)isacombinationofthoseactivities
thatbestprotectsthecommunityitselfandenvironment.ForISWMasustainable
approachisrequiredbygivingthestakeholderstoparticipateintheprocessof
ISWMandsharetheirresponsibilities.
Someofthesignificantfeaturesofsolidwastemanagementshowsthatthe
compositionofsolidwasteinPakistanthatcomesfromdifferentsourceshavea
highpercentageoforganicwaste,thatcanberecoveredviacompostingand
recycling.InmostcitiesofPakistanpoorcollectionandtransportationofmunicipal

solidwasteisreported.
TheestimatedquantityofsolidwastegenerationinPakistanrangesbetween0.283
to0.612kg/capital/dayandwastegenerationgrowthrateis2.4percentagesper
year.Duetopoorsolidwastemanagementtherearelargenumberof
communicablediseasesandunhygienicenvironmentbeingcreated.
Muchoftheuncollectedwasteultimatelyfindsitswayintoemptyplots,farming
land,pitsandponds.Itcreatesanidealenvironmentforfliesandmosquitoesto
dwellonandisnotonlyharmfulforthepeoplelivinginthatarea,butalsofor
plantsandanimals.
InPakistanSolidWastemanagementhasnotbeencarriedoutinpropermannerand
theconditionisgettingworsebythetime.Themajorproblemcausingfactorsare
rateofurbanization,compositionofwaste,scavengerroleforrecyclableseparation
andthecapacitiesofexistingmunicipalitiesforsolidwastemanagement.
Forthechangeofattitudeandbehaviorofpublic,educationandawarenessisvery
important.Forthispurposewemayusedifferentstrategies,e.g.,educationsession
forcommonmanregardingdisposalofgarbage.Bythiswaywecaneducate
thecommonmanregardinghowtheycanplaytheirroleinsolidwaste
management.

ConclusionandRecommendations
Therecommendationsthatcanbeconsideredfortheimprovementofthecurrent
situationregardingsolidwastemanagementinPakistanincludes,raisingawareness
aboutconsequencescausedbysolidwastepollution,roleofgovernmentsector,
NGOs,Privatesectorcollectivelyforsolidwastemanagement,legislationshould
bedonewhichwouldbeeffectiveandfindwaystoimplementiteffectively,
applicationof3Rs(Reduce,RecycleandReuse)conceptinsolidwaste
management.Housetohousecollectionofsolidwasteshouldbeorganized.
Litteringofsolidwasteshouldbeprohibitedincities,townsandurbanareas.
Propersegregationwouldbevitalforscientificdisposalofwaste.Developinglegal
frameworkandnationalguidelinesforsolidwastemanagementthatincludeswaste
managementrulesandbasicrecyclingrules.