Integrated solid waste management approach for environmental improvement: a case study of Sylhet

Abstract

One of the most pressing demands on services of Sylhet City Corporation of Bangladesh from urban dwellers is better waste management. The conservancy section is responsible for sweeping the streets, collecting rubbish and disposing to a landfill, drain clearing. Sweeping is carried out by 129 permanent sweepers located in main streets of the city. The City Corporation estimates it collects between 60 and 80 tonnes of rubbish hom its bins (152 dust bins) and open pomts (60) for disposal daily where as around 180-200 tonne5 of rubbish is produced every day The lanclfill is located a Shol1 distance outside (about 7km) of the city, on 17 acres of land owned by the city corporation. The land is approximately 3 metres below the level of the road. The site is not engineered and has been used for 5 years. The City Corporation has no Waste Strategv to improve the cleanliness of the city and reduce the effect of the city's rubbish on the environment. During the research programme a household survey was done to explore the Clt)' dwellers opinion in tackling the conservancy problems. The survey was cancer survey and done in three electoral words of the city. Total 3036 households were surveyed. The waste generation rate is 0.34 kg/cap/day Most of the households (73%) produced 1-2kg daily Among the household waste, 34.7% is coming from cooking, 27% is coming from homestead activities and the rest covers cosmetics, toilet, education and cloth. The survey shows that 68.3% of total household waste is compostable, 11.7% is recyclable and the rest 20% is disposable. Only little of the total households (II %) preserve waste for recycling About half of the total population (51 %) in the surveyed area is enjoying additional facilities from some Community Based Organizations (CBOs). The households have been bearing Tic 10 to tk 200 monthly for the CBO who works for waste collection in their locality Most of the residents (934%) of the surveyed area are quite ignorant abollt the waste management policy ofSylhet City Corporation. The conservancy activities should include the 100% primary collection of the waste, optimum utilization of waste through intensive recycling, awareness raising on waste education as well as waste reduction. The conservancy activities of Sylhet City Corporation should be decentralised in live blocks rather than one centralised area. In order to ensure 100% primary collection of the waste, City Corporation should encourage the pal1icipation of NGOs and CBOs, and facilitate these organisations to dispose their collected waste in some designated secondary transfer points timely rather than a number of small dustbins. Recycling and reclamation should be strongly promoted for conservation of resources and prevention of environmental degradation The city corporation will relive from the heap of garbage and its huge amount of budget will be saved and recycled product will also increase the fertility of the soil. The reduced quantity of rubbish will also increase the life of the final dumping point