IT is not uncommon to find a heaped garbage dump even in the posh residential areas of Pakistani cities. Be it cosmopolitan Karachi, the apparently well-managed Islamabad or bustling Lahore, almost every city of Pakistan is plagued with problems of municipal solid waste management.
Municipal waste refers to unwanted or discarded materials generated from residential, commercial, industrial or institutional areas. For the past two decades, Pakistan has seen a considerable rise in the amount of waste generated primarily due to increased urbanization and industrialization, as well as due to increased per capita waste generation. Unfortunately, there has not been a corresponding increase in the facilities for collection, transfer and disposal of this waste thereby leading to waste accumulating outside houses, on street sides, in empty plots and in open drains.
According to estimates, solid waste generation in the urban areas of Pakistan ranges between 0.6 to 0.8kg/capita/day and the waste generation growth rate is 2.4 per cent per year. What is alarming to learn is that on the average less than 50 per cent of this solid waste is collected by government owned and other operated services (World Bank Study, 1995). Thus, of the 54,850 tons of waste generated per day by the urban areas, only 29,619 tons is collected while the rest is left to decay either at collection points or dump sites. What cannot decompose is burnt without any consideration of whether it contains hazardous material or not. Rubber and plastic material such as plastic shopping bags are one of the worst offenders giving off dangerous fumes when burnt.
Burning of waste is often done in residential areas and the resulting smoke or toxic fumes spread over large distances. Waste that is not collected or burnt is thrown into open drains leading to choking of the drain giving off the familiar offensive odour and exacerbating pollution problems.
Not only are the facilities for waste collection inadequate but also the methods for its transport and disposal remain much to be desired. Different types of wastes are not collected separately and as a result potentially recyclable material such as paper, plastic etc. is lost. Vehicles used for transportation of the waste fail to meet the international safety standards. Open trucks are frequently used that not only spill the waste they are carrying, but also emanate an unbearably foul smell. In fact, much of the waste falls in the street before reaching the site of disposal.
As far as disposal of the waste is concerned, there is at present, not even one landfill that meets the international health and safety standards. Waste is simply dumped onto open pieces of land without regard for whether it contains hazardous or toxic material that could cause air pollution or contaminate the water table. The improperly designed landfills lead to problems such as incomplete decomposition, methane production and leachate contamination of ground water.
This lack of proper collection and disposal of solid waste has serious implications for the environment and consequently human health. Flies and small animals such as rodents breed on uncovered piles of garbage and spread diseases like typhoid, cholera and even plague. Moreover, improper disposal of solid waste encourages the spread of eye and skin infections. When solid waste is dumped into canals, rivers and water bodies, the water supply along the whole length of the watercourse is polluted rendering the water unfit for human consumption. And if burnt, the hazardous materials in the waste such as plastic bags give off toxic fumes and lead to air pollution.
In short, the present methods of solid waste disposal remain much to be desired. Actually the whole system of solid waste management is in dire needs of overhauling. It is important to ensure that not only is more waste collected but the amount of waste generated also undergoes a decline. Simple steps such as encouraging reuse and recycling of items both at the household and the commercial level, providing financial incentives for segregating different types of wastes, throwing garbage only at sites designated by the municipal corporations, banning the use of nonbiodegradable items such as plastic shopping bags could help alleviate the problem somewhat.
However, to tackle solid waste on a larger scale, probably the best alternative is to privatize partially or completely solid waste management in the country. The government has already initiated a plan to do this as it promises to increase the quantity of solid waste collected at a greater efficiency and a lower cost.
There is news that an international standard landfill is planned for the city of Islamabad which will be built with the cooperation of the Japanese firm, JICA. This will be properly designed and operated to minimize public health and environmental impacts. Lets hope something similar follows soon for Lahore and Karachi.
Besides improving the collection and disposal of solid waste, the government also needs to make some effort to educate the public about solid waste management, reduction of waste, reuse, recycling, harmful effects of plastic bags etc. For instance, a large number of people are simply unaware that burning of plastic bags emits toxic fumes.
While the responsibility of collection and disposal of waste lies primarily with the government, we all need to make an effort to minimize waste generation. Moreover, we need to ensure that waste is disposed off in a manner that is not harmful to the environment or public health.
IT is not uncommon to find a heaped garbage dump even in the posh residential areas of Pakistani cities. Be it cosmopolitan Karachi, the apparently well-managed Islamabad or bustling Lahore, almost every city of Pakistan is plagued with problems of municipal solid waste management.
