IT is a welcome news that Japan government through JICA has signed deal to finance a project for solid waste management of Dhaka city.
Current (2015) waste generation in Bangladesh is greater than 22.4 million tons per year or 150 kg/cap/year. There is an increasing rate of waste generation in Bangladesh and it is projected to reach 47,064 tons per day by 2025. The Waste Generation Rate (kg/cap/day) is expected to increase to 0.6 in 2025. A significant percentage of the population has zero access to proper waste disposal services, which will in effect lead to the problem of waste mismanagement. The total waste collection rate in major cities of Bangladesh such as Dhaka is only 37%. When waste is not properly collected, it will be illegally disposed of and this will pose serious environmental and health hazards to the nation’s citizens.
Bangladesh has minimal waste collection coverage which forces majority of the waste to be dumped in open lands. These waste are not disposed of properly, where general waste are often mixed with hazardous waste such as hospital waste. In a report on solid waste management in Asia, the data showed that, in Dhaka only about 42% of generated waste is collected and dumped at landfill sites, and the rest are left uncollected. As much as 400 tons are dumped on the roadside and in open space. As such, these improperly disposed waste poses serious health implications to the people where it may have the potential of transmitting diseases.
Due to the lack of funding, there are also insufficient subsidies put in place for the issue of waste management in Bangladesh. Hence, there are essentially no proper disposal facilities to cater to the rapid creation of waste. One of the most adverse impacts of poor waste management, especially municipal waste, is the incidence and prevalence of diseases such as malaria and respiratory problems, as well as other illnesses through the contamination of ground water. Biomedical wastes pose great danger in Bangladesh too as a report estimated that 20% of the biomedical waste is “highly infectious” and is a hazard since it is often disposed of into the sewage system or drains. Such poor sanitation has serious consequences for the health of the residents and a report suggests that “most of the child mortality could be related with this problem”. With regards to the living standards, solid waste leads to blockage in the drainage system which leads to flooding in the streets. Consequently, mosquitoes and bad odour are among the negative impacts resulted.
There is however a very easy solution to waste recovery in Bangladesh generating electricity from the waste produced. It is used in countries like Japan which are highly populated and don’t have enough land and it would work for us very well however the political will necessary to build electricity plants which are based on waste must be there.
It is hoped that Japanese cooperation in waste management of Dhaka this time will be more practical and helpful, not just in money terms but in a more realistic way. Japan is helping in waste management since 2003. But under the recent agreement what must be ensured is more effective assistance.
