Cities recycle just 4.05pc solid waste
A shockingly small amount of the solid waste, produced by cities and municipalities across the country, are being recycled, according to a Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics survey.
The survey report released yesterday blamed the lack of infrastructure, public awareness, poor budgetary allocations, and the absence of proper waste management system and monitoring for the situation.
Only 3.15 percent of the 80 lakh tonnes of solid waste the municipalities produced in the 2021 fiscal year were recycled, the survey report said.
The recycling rate was 3.04 percent in the fiscal year 2019 and 3.05 percent in 2020.
It said 4.05 percent of 39 lakh tonnes were recycled in the six city corporation areas in fiscal year 2021.
Nationwide, only 15.59 percent of the solid waste was recycled in 2021.
Poor public awareness, inadequate landfills and budget allocation are the main obstacles to quality waste management, it said.
A lack of infrastructure and inefficiency in proper waste management were also cited as challenges that put public health at risks.
Worryingly, only 1.04 percent, 1.28 percent, and 1.36 percent of the hazardous solid waste generated nationwide between 2019 and 2021 fiscal years were treated.
According to the BBS, 340 municipalities had 494 landfills in 2020-21.
Of the landfills, 12 were sanitary landfills, where hazardous waste can be disposed of in an environment-friendly manner.
The report pointed out that due to too few sanitary landfills, hazardous waste is ending up in non-sanitary landfills, increasing the chances of contamination that can lead to severe health and environmental problems.
City corporations and municipalities must have an adequate number of sanitary landfills, it recommended.
The study also recommended building public awareness and their participation in effective waste management programmes.
It suggested that all municipalities use the three R – reduction, reuse, and recycle – programme for waste management.
The study said that the municipalities need to create e-waste management plants and ensure e-waste collection and disposal. It emphasised e-waste reuse and recycling.
Executive Engineer Mohammad Safiullah Siddique Bhuiyan of the Dhaka South City Corporation said seven to eight percent of the solid waste produced by the DSCC is recycled by hand at the Matuail landfill.
He said if trained people are employed for this and segregated waste is collected at the source, this number could be raised to 15 percent.
He said they plan to start a pilot project in two wards of Dhaka south where segregated waste would be collected.
Adil Mohammad Khan, former general secretary of Bangladesh Institute of Planners (BIP), said waste management guidelines have been prepared recently where the responsibilities of every individual have been mentioned.
He said those who generate hazardous waste have to take the responsibility.
Adil said the supervision for implementing the guidelines is absent and this monitoring mechanism by the city corporation or the department of environment has not been prepared. This results in people not dumping waste via proper channels, he added.
In other countries, a huge amount of penalty is imposed if the rules are violated, which helps ensure proper waste management, he said.
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