RELIANCE on centralised waste collection and landfill disposal is financially burdensome and unsustainable. Landfills are rapidly losing capacity, leading to waste overflow along roads and the financial expenditure associated with this method is substantial. A shift towards a nudge-based approach can mitigate the issues by ensuring at-source segregation and promoting community-based composting of organic wastes, thereby reducing costs and improving overall efficiency and environmental wellbeing.
Waste management practices are now characterised by inefficient collection, costly removal and disposal mechanism, a shortage of land for stockpile of assorted waste, the absence of implementation mechanism regarding recycling practices and severe environmental losses. Landfills with piles of assorted waste 鈥� a mix of organic and inorganic wastes including electronic wastes 鈥斕� release greenhouse gas such as methane contributing to global warming and severe air pollution. These landfills being exposed to arable land and water bodies and river systems release toxic leachate and other substances causing soil and water pollution. The events substantially increase probability for contaminating crops, livestocks and fisheries and, even, ground water. It means all the intakes, water, air and food that we need to live on are getting contaminated by the landfills. These cause huge spending on the diagnosis of diseases and medical treatment incurred by individuals and the government.
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Primary financial burden on households
THE solid waste management system in Dhaka relies heavily on door-to-door collection under control of ward councillors. The services lack standardisation, with fees ranging from Tk 50 to TK 500, depending on residential areas. An estimate shows that this generates about Tk 600 crore a year, from which the city corporations earn nothing. Collected waste is deposited at nearby secondary transfer stations before being transported to landfills.
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High costs of landfills
THE waste management system incurs high costs, primarily because of the operation and maintenance of secondary transfer stations and landfills. Household wastes are brought to the secondary transfer stations to be carried to the landfills. Around 500 fuel oil-driven trucks, wheel dozers, excavators, and bulldozers are engaged in waste transport and management, requiring significant costs. Different categories of trucks make around 1,300 trips a day to transport about 5,500 tonnes of waste from secondary transfer stations to the two landfills of Dhaka.
The Municipal Waste Management Survey 2022 by the Bureau of Statistics shows rapidly increasing landfill expenditures in 12 city corporations. The survey shows that managing waste costs an average of Tk 3,917.09 a tonne at 20 landfills. in another way of estimate, the survey shows that city corporations spend Tk 661.39 a year per city dweller on waste management, which comes down to Tk 242.51 a month per family. However, it is alleged that the actual costs are much higher because local government authorities only account for operational costs, excluding the annual depreciation of fixed costs in their estimations.
Annual reports of the two city corporations of Dhaka show that the Dhaka South City Corporation spent Tk 426 per tonne on waste management at the Matuail landfill while the Dhaka North City Corporation spent Tk 245 per tonne at the Amin Bazar landfill in the 2019鈥�20 financial year. Given the huge amount of waste generated, 7,000 tonnes a day, in Dhaka, this comes down to enormous financial outlays. About 80 per cent of the waste is dumped in the two landfills. As the capacity of these landfills dwindles, they often overflow on to the streets, creating unsightly and unsanitary conditions, leading to public health concerns.
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Landfills lack capacity: high expansion cost
AS THE ultimate disposal of the assorted waste of the two landfills in Dhaka is a very slow process, acquiring more land in phases is the only way to increase landfill capacity. Besides health hazards and environmental losses, city corporation authorities need to spend hundreds of crores of takas on land acquisition and landfill modernisation. The Dhaka North City Corporation鈥檚 latest move to acquire 50 acres of land for its Amin Bazar landfill requires Tk 450 crore. A similar expansion and modernisation project of the Dhaka South City Corporation is estimated to require the spending of Tk 724 crore which involves acquisition of 81 acres of land adjacent to the Matuail landfill. The two city corporations plan to generate electricity using incineration plants at landfill sites. Such incineration plants drew severe criticism across the world because of their environmental impact and substantial investment requirement to mitigate the adverse impact. The electricity will cost 22.72 US cents or Tk 26.58, supposing $1 equals Tk 117, according to an estimate for the proposed incineration plant to be set up at the Amin Bazar landfill site.
Despite an unsustainable management of existing landfills with unrealistic solution measures and land scarcity in and around Dhaka, the authorities continue emphasising more and more land acquisition as a waste management strategy. The waste management cost has been experiencing steeper growth due to incremental need for pricy land acquisition to accommodate a fast-growing volume of assorted wastes.
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True costs and opportunity costs
THE cumulative costs of the current landfill-based solid waste management model are extremely high. A comprehensive study would show its further magnitude if all real costs are considered. The opportunity cost of this model is also very high. The greatest loss is viewing waste as a burden despite its potential to become a resource. Organic wastes could be composted into organic fertiliser and inorganic waste could be raw inputs for recycling industries, reducing the need for chemical fertilisers and polymers respectively. The entire prospect of a circular economy, with no harmful emissions, is jeopardised because of the failure in segregated waste collection at sources 鈥� households and commercial spaces.
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Green cycle initiative
THE green cycle initiative, which is founded on the nudging theory, suggests the development of decentralised capacities for at-source waste segregation and ultimate disposal within the communities. The allocation of resources should follow the same. It focuses enabling community members to complete their green cycle through an efficient mobilisation of wastes towards safe disposal. Organic waste being generated at households and/or commercial spaces and processed into organic fertilser at on-site composters or community waste recycling plants is finally used for indoor/rooftop plantation at the same households and/or commercial spaces. This makes the green cycle complete for individuals. This organic engagement of community members will encourage them for at-source waste segregation, which is the prime challenge of modern solid waste management methods. The process would also encourage eligible households and businesses to set up their own composters at their premises leading to decrease in waste stream to the community recycling plant. This green cycle mechanism gradually reduces segregation pressure and overall waste handling pressure at the community plants.
By promoting at-source segregation, community-based composting and increasing supply of inorganic waste to recycling industries, the nudge-based approach converts waste into valuable resources. It also offsets the need for expensive landfill operations. This decentralised model not only reduces the financial burden of land acquisition, landfill maintenance and waste transport but also eliminate environmental pollution and health hazards.
Implementing comprehensive awareness campaign keeping school-going children in focus, offering incentives in different forms and developing community-based infrastructures will enable the community to engage in sustainable waste management, fostering a clean and healthy urban environment while positioning Dhaka as a leader in innovative waste management practices.
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Manjurul Ahsan ([email protected]) and Mehedi Imam ([email protected]) are researchers and writers.
