The New Nation - Internet Edition

Solid waste management: Potentials, challenges

Taieba Ahmad Ireen

Solid waste and its generation are unavoidable. Since human beings have been inhabited on the earth, they have generated, produced, manufactured, excreted, discarded and otherwise disposed of all manner of waste. By definition, solid waste is useless, unwanted and discarded non-liquid waste materials arising from domestic, trade, commercial, industrial, agriculture, as well as public services. It is inextricably linked with resource consumption, urban lifestyle, attitude, education, regulation and economic activity.

Solid waste is one of the most visible and pressing urban environmental problems in both developed and developing countries. Urbanization, demographic growth and economic development all contribute to the generation of waste, which overloads the capacities (budget, personnel and infrastructure) of the local authorities. As long as, solid waste is not managed properly, it could have effect on health and environment. Solid Waste Management in mere practice refers to the activities of collection, transportation and disposal of waste. But in a modern and broader definition - Solid waste management refers to all activities such as generation, storage, collection, transportation, processing, treatment as well as disposal in accordance with the best principle of public health, economics, engineering, conservation, aesthetic and other favorable environmental considerations in the framework of administrative, financial, legal, planning and engineering functions.

Compared to developed countries, the developing countries produce less per-capita solid waste, but the capacity of the developing countries to collect, process and dispose waste is limited in terms of inadequate infrastructure, finance, political priority and awareness.

Solid waste generation is an inevitable consequence of production and consumption activities. Population growth can increase the amount of municipal solid waste significantly. The waste generation rate varies between 0.47 to 0.50 kg/cap/day in the developing countries like Bangladesh. However, the generation can also vary with the level of income, urbanization trend, changing food habit, social and cultural habits, and lifestyle changes. Seasonal variations also can influence the amount of waste generation. During the rainy season, the waste becomes wet and heavy. Plenty of vegetables and seasonal fruits grow and lead to an incremental variation in waste amount. The rate of waste generation is found to be higher in wet season and lower in the dry season.

Residential wastes are the main sources of MSW in Bangladesh. The other important sources are commercial wastes including markets, hotels, restaurants etc. Institutional wastes include the wastes from school, college and universities as well as the offices. Municipal services wastes include wastes from street sweeping and drain cleaning.

Municipal solid waste is a heterogeneous mixture of wastes; organic and inorganic, rapidly and slowly biodegradable, hazardous and non-hazardous generated from various sources due to human and industrial activities. In major cities of Bangladesh, it is observed that food and vegetable wastes are the dominant component in the waste stream. Other waste components are paper & paper products, polythene & plastics, textile & woods, rubber & leathers, metal & tins, glass & ceramics, brick & concrete, dust & soil etc. These components vary with the sources such as residential, commercial, industrial and institutional. In the residential area, food & vegetable waste dominates but in the institution paper waste is more. As the inorganic wastes are picked up by the scavengers from the secondary storage points, the organic waste is found more in the disposal ground.

The pH, moisture content, bulk density and particle size are the physical characteristics of municipal solid waste. The pH of organic material ranges from 5.5 and 8.5 and a good indicator for decomposition. For aerobic composting, the organic mass has to attain a pH

value of 6.0 and 7.5. A moisture content of 50-60% of the total weight of waste is considered ideal for the developing countries. Higher moisture content indicates the possibility of the development of anaerobic conditions that causes obnoxious odors and quicker rotting. The bulk density of waste is an important criterion for the design of storage, collection and transportation equipment as well as for the landfill. The low income level country contains higher concentration of vegetable materials but lower density of packaging materials. For the low income countries, the bulk density of waste accounts for 300-600 kg/m3 and for the middle and high income countries, the bulk density reduces to 200-300 and 100-150 kg/m3 respectively. The particle size is important to determine mass to surface ratio for expose to microbial attack.

The organic matter content in the waste material is important for the potential possibility of composting and biogas as a waste management option. Apart from the fraction of the organic wastes, the concentration of Carbon and Nitrogen and the consequent C/N ratio, the Potassium (K) and Phosphorus (P) is important. In addition the feasibility of combustion depends on moisture content, volatile combustible matter, fixed carbon and ash. The combustion is expressed by the term calorific value of waste, which is the quantitative estimation of heat energy released by burning. Higher calorific value indicates the combustion of waste with a lesser amount of auxiliary fuel support. To facilitate self-combustion of waste, it requires 5024 kJ/kg and at least 6280 kJ/Kg for power generation. But in Bangladesh, the calorific value is lower 2303-3559 kJ/Kg which indicates that the waste does not sustain combustion.

Kitchen is the main source of waste production. Households keep small containers to store the waste in the kitchen, hand over them to the collection workers who then dispose them into vans and return the empty container. The mixed wastes are mostly collected from the households. The separation of waste at source into organic, inorganic and hazardous are not practiced. Motivation, awareness and commitment is highly required for source- separation. However, the waste which is dry and has a recycle value are stored at households and sold them to itinerant buyers in exchange of money or household utensils.

Primary waste collection is the responsibility of the waste generators. Having this in mind or with the dissatisfaction of the municipal cleansing services, the community based solid waste collection system has been introduced in most part of the cities with the involvement of some CBOs and NGOs. With transforming into this new system of door-to-door waste collection system from the traditional practice, people are now accustomed to the practice of keeping waste into bins or bags and handed over them to the waste collection crews and contributed to the system by paying service charges. Where, door-to-door collection systems are not available, people carry wastes to nearby municipal secondary bins, from where the municipal trucks load the wastes for ultimate disposal. Rickshaw vans are usually used to operate the collection system which can carry waste nearly 250-280 kg/van/trip. The secondary bins are placed usually on the main road selected based on population, space availability, accessibility or other local factors. Sometimes, the locations of the bins are opposed by the nearby households commonly known as NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) syndrome.

City authorities are responsible for the waste transportation by trucks. The different types of truck such as open, closed and tipping with varying capacities are engaged for waste transportation into the disposal site. The trucks are normally assigned for a particular area with two or three trips per day. However, the waste transportation system is inefficient in its management namely due to off route of vehicles for repairing, poor maintenance, under loaded by waste, skip trip for illegal dumping etc.

Waste disposal is the end of journey for waste management. The disposal is commonly practice in low lying areas for the reclamation of lands. But this practice is unsound and unsustainable in terms of pollution of surface and underground water resources, green house gas emission and the discharge of toxic leachate in the nearby lands. The discharge of leachate contaminates the water bodies dangerous for fish and aquatic lives by reducing the amount of oxygen in water. So in the landfill (controlled or sanitary), waste are deposited onto and into lands in such a way that the environmental risks are controlled at an appropriate and acceptable level. Provisions are kept to minimize risks from leachate and gas production.

The treatment of waste and use its byproduct is not economic in true sense until or unless it is subsidized. The processes such as composting, biogas generation, waste-to energy, refused derived fuel etc. can be produced from waste. But it can be examined through technological, financial and socio-economic consideration. The key considerations in solid waste disposal are:

(i) Municipal capacity (ii) Political commitment (iii) Finance and cost recovery (iv) Technical guidelines (v) Institutional roles and responsibilities (vi) Location

The informal sectors play an important role in waste reduction and recycling. The waste picking from the secondary and final disposal sites are concerns in terms of health and livelihood issue.

In Bangladesh, recovery and recycling occurs in three phases. In the first phase, the waste generators separate waste which has higher market value such as newspaper, bottles, and plastic containers and sell them to street hawkers. In the second phase, the scavengers are rummage through the wastes near the bins for collecting recyclable materials of low market value such as broken glass, cans, polythene which are discarded by households.

The final phase is the collection of recyclable materials by the waste pickers from the waste vehicles immediately after unloading at dumpsites. Scavenging from an economic and social point of view, it economizes on resource use, reduces burden of waste disposal and contributes to environmental conservation. However, they work in wastes in a risky environment without due consideration to their occupational health and safety.

The waste management policy is virtually insufficient and ineffective. The few clauses of the municipal ordinances are the basis for waste management. The responsibility of the waste generators and the municipality are not mentioned in detail which limits the activities of the local authority as well as make them responsive to the people. People are not also aware of or more careful about the keeping of waste properly into dustbin. Basically the conservancy department is in charge of solid waste management in the municipality. However, solid waste management is a multi-disciplinary activity of conservancy, transport and engineering. It needs a coordinated effort. Solid waste management has given low priority and provided limited funds than the other municipal services. The municipalities have lack of capacity, legal framework, coordination and effective financial management system.

Solid waste management is the most visible urban environmental problem. The ever increasing solid waste, accelerating cost, ineffective legislation and inefficient institutional image has made solid waste management a very challenging task for the local authorities. It is recognized that the local authorities, the private sector and the community can not alone be able to improve the waste situation of their own. Its' need a collaborative effort of all stakeholders in the development paradigm. A rapid growth of community based activity in solid waste management is being seen in recent years. New forms of civic engagement are emerging, resulting in community people increasingly getting involved in the decision making process of solid waste management. Local government support and acknowledgement is imperative in the community-based initiative, it can increase public trust and legitimacy to the initiatives. The local authority can take a leading role to institutionalize the informal community-based activities within their formal waste management services. As such the political motivation of the local authority is essential.

Local government authorities are generally responsible for the provision of solid waste collection and disposal services. Beside, their statutory obligations, the local authorities are motivated by political concerns to provide solid waste services. They are lacking in both financial and institutional capacities to provide efficient solid waste management services. There is no institutional culture in the local government to train its fellow personnel to build knowledge and capacity in waste management. Poor government policy and response, lack of political priority, lack of transparency in budget use, bureaucratic and top down approach in decision making process has made solid waste management a complex activity. Effective decentralization can make solid waste management more flexible, efficient and responsive to local requirements and potentials. Devolution of responsibilities, authorities, decision making power and financial management can reduce the work load of the local authority and can foster more demand-oriented solid waste management services.

(Taieba Ahmad Ireen, Dept. of Environmental Science and Resource Management, Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University, Santosh, Tangail.)

Water is no pipe dream here

Shree Padre

Konkodi Bhat's simple pipe system at his home in Dakshina Kannada allows the family to use rainwater for half the year and lets the excess recharge the open well for usage in the remaining months. His easily replicable technique can successfully reduce groundwater usage in heavy rainfall areas, reports Shree Padre.

23 July 2008 - Konkodi Thirumaleshwara Bhat lives with his family in Idkidu village near Puttur in Dakshina Kannada district. They have an open well and a borewell in their house premises. But they don't need to use either of these for almost six months in a year'thanks to a simple pipe system that Bhat has devised. This system directs rainwater to a tank from which they use water for their day-to-day use and also send the overflow to recharge the open well.

Idkidu receives an average rainfall of 3500 mm. The 1,000-square-feet ground floor roof serves to catch water not only for domestic use of this four-member family, but for the cattleshed and other needs of this farming family too. Since 2003, the family has not had to switch on their open well motor from 15 May to 15 November each year.

Rainwater from the roof goes to an old open tank that was fortunately already placed at a desired height. The bottom of this tank is six feet above the ground. This tank, with a height of seven feet, has a capacity of about 14,000 litres. Water is allowed to fill up to 5.5 feet and then it starts overflowing. The excess water gets filtered in a locally made filter and pours into the open well. In this process, the tank holds upto 11,000 litres of water. As the rainwater is used for non-potable purpose, it is not filtered.

Only if there is no rain for 15 consecutive days do we run the open well pump. But such instances are very few,' says Shailaja, Bhat's wife. 'During the monsoon we lift a few pots of filtered water from the well for drinking and cooking. The water is safe'nobody catches a cold. Previously when we were using borewell water, we used to boil it before drinking.

Bhat constructed this house in 1996. The open well was dug only in 2003. Till then, they were using borewell water for drinking and other domestic needs. At that time, they were using the roof water to recharge the borewell. In 1992, a campaign for rain harvesting started in this village, including a house-to-house survey. Amrutha Sinchana Raithara Seva Okkoota (Farmers' Service Federation), a local farmers' organisation had taken the initiative in this movement. Most of the families started harvesting rain in one way or the other. The media named Idkidu as water literate village. It started drawing thousands of visitors from near and far.

Bhat recalls, 'Our entire village was contributing towards water conservation. I too thought I should join in. How could I conserve rain here. That question generated this idea.

Bhat has devised the pipe system such that once the tank fills up to 5.5 feet, the excess water, on its own, flows down and empties into the open well. For this, a manual act like rotating ball valve is not necessary. How is this done then? 'It's pretty simple. I have just used common sense,' explains Bhat, showing the pipe fitting.

This daily use cum open well recharge system cost this family Rs.1000 in 2003. It has been reducing their groundwater use by about five to six months a year since then. The family has learnt to use water very judiciously when there is plenty and let the excess deposit in the well.

A second pipe is fitted to the pipe that carries roof water to the tank. This has been done vertically, using a 'T'. This pipeline then goes horizontally through a second 'T' and finally vertically down. Height of the first vertical pipe is important. It's the maximum height to which water can be raised on gravity from the ground floor roof. An open elbow with its face upwards is fixed to the upper 'T'. This is to permit the air to leak out lest it block the water flow.

>From here, the excess water goes to a circular tank. Centre of the tank has a cement bucket like filter. The filtered water flows down to the open well. The recharge process goes on almost everyday during monsoon.

This daily use cum open well recharge system cost this family Rs.1000 in 2003. It has been reducing their groundwater use by about five to six months a year since then. The family has learnt to use water very judiciously when there is plenty and let the excess deposit in the well. Once the monsoon is over, withdrawal from the well starts. Bhat's idea of making small savings has paid off rich dividends.

Bhat has this tip for those who want to adopt this system: 'This system can be done in houses with only ground floor roof. Nowadays everybody keeps the ground floor roof or the terrace at 12 feet above ground level. So, construct your tank so that its lower level is at least six feet above the ground. You can fill this tank upto six feet. Keep the capacity of the tank as per your requirement.' Adds Shailaja, 'The water pressure in the taps will not be high. But then, higher the pressure more the wastage.'

Have anybody followed this idea? 'Thousands of people have come, seen and appreciated,' replied Shailaja. 'A few have shown keenness to implement this. Maybe some might have already done so. But we haven't got any information on this so far.'

Bhat's pioneering success in reducing the groundwater use by half has shown a way for others as to how to make their water management sustainable in heavy rainfall areas. In the Dakshina Kannada district, many industries, institutions and even farmhouses that are unfortunately borewell dependent, can learn a lesson or two from Bhat's example.

The options are many. If the roof water can be stored in the tank and brought to the taps on gravity, as Bhats have one, use of energy can be totally saved. Excess water can be used for open well/borewell recharge. If daily water requirement is large, like in institutions and industries, large Ferro cement water tanks 'maybe underground - can be built that can be connected with filtered roof water.

This will completely do away the groundwater requirement for a minimum of five months, that is, 150 days, a neat 41 per cent. This means saving that much of electricity that otherwise is required to pump water from the 300 to 400 feet. More important is that with that considerable rest each year, the life of borewell will improve. More so if all the excess water after use is recharged in a proper way.

It is high time the rain-rich areas look at rainwater as a valuable resource and start utilising it instead of sending it away. This forethought would make most of the water management systems here sustainable and 'tanker proof'.

(Source: Waterwatch. Shree Padre is a journalist with many years of experience in agricultural reporting. He is the author of several books, including one on rainwater harvesting, published by Altermedia.)

IFC to finance Nepal hydropower projects

International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank group, has announced it will finance 25 percent of the total investment for 402 megawatt (MW) Arun-III and 300 MW Upper Karnali hydroelectric projects.

IFC took the decision to finance the two big hydroelectric projects at the request of Indian private companies GMR Energy Ltd and Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN), Anita George, Director, Infrastructure of IFC told journalists.

George arrived in Kathmandu to take part in a workshop on "Hydropower Project Financing" jointly organized by Independent Power Producers' Association Nepal (IPPAN), IFC, Nepal Hydropower Association (NHA) and Nepal Bankers' Association (NBA) in the capital on Monday.

The government of Nepal awarded the 300 MW Upper Karnali to GMR last January and the 402-MW Arun-III project to Sutlej in March this year. "IFC will finance 25 percent of the total investment of both projects," George said.

IFC has already invested 10 percent of the total investment in Khimti and Bhotekoshi hydroelectric projects.

She also said IFC is going to invest US$ 38 million in infrastructure sector. Eighty percent of that will be invested in hydro projects, she added.

George suggested that Nepal should give priority to small and medium sized projects. She informed that IFC would also prefer to finance such projects. "We are looking for medium and small-sized projects. But, we will finance both large as well as small projects," she said.

She was of the view that Nepal should adopt public-private partnership model for hydroelectric and other infrastructure development. "Around $10 billion is needed for the 10,800MW Karnali Chisapani Multipurpose Project.

Public private partnership concept is essential for such projects," she said.

"Hydropower will give Nepal a big say in regional cooperation," she added.

Addressing the program, Minister for Water Resources Gyanendra Bahadur Karki expressed commitment to crafting a modern Nepal by fulfilling energy needs through rapid development of hydropower sector.

Also, Dr Sandip Shah of IPPAN, Balaram Pradhan of NHA, Radhesh Pant of NBA, Sher Singh Bhat of Nepal Electricity Authority, among others, presented their papers at the workshop. The conference was also attended by AES, which is one of the world's largest global power companies, that generated approximately $13.6 billion revenues in 2007. Sanjeev Aggrawal of AES also presented a paper.

A large number of policy makers, power producers and bankers from in and outside the country participated in the program.

-Kantipur Report

Crumbling schools in quake-prone Himalayas

V K Joshi

The afternoon of May 12 will haunt memories of parents of school going children of Sichuan Province in China for years. Thousands of children perished under the collapsed buildings of their schools as an earthquake measuring more than 7.9 on the Richter scale jolted the province. Photographs of the collapsed school buildings bear ample testimony to their shoddy construction.

Sichuan is not the only earthquake-prone area where safety has been given a short shrift in the construction of school buildings. In Muzaffarabad in Pakistan- administered Kashmir, parents of more than 17,000 school children are still grieving over loss of their dear ones in the 2005 earthquake.

Caution is thrown to the winds while constructing school buildings in earthquake- prone areas in India as well. In earthquake prone Uttarakhand, no educational institution can withstand tremors of high-magnitude. This is a serious lacuna in a state where education is accorded high priority: the state has a literacy rate of 71.6 per cent and there are 16,774 schools at the village level only. The most earthquake prone districts of Bageshwar and Chamoli districts alone have more than 2,350 schools. Even if we put a conservative figure of 70 students per school, the total number of kids exposed to a disaster on a working day is 1,64,500. The condition is not less serious elsewhere. Shillong in Meghalaya, for example, has become a contemporary educational hub. Consequently hundreds of three to four storied private 'hostels' have mushroomed there, with 200 to 300 inmates each. But none of these buildings is designed to withstand strong tremors.

Earthquakes at Uttarkashi (1991) and Chamoli (1999) demolished many school buildings, says Prabhas Pande, director seismology, Geological Survey of India and an ace seismologist. Majority of school buildings in the state are made of mud plaster and a few have cheap RCC structures. None of these buildings are safe enough to withstand the shock of an earthquake, Pande says.

We could do well to learn from the experience of Nepal. The country has with the help of some NGOs managed to make all its school buildings earthquake resistant.

We can also seek guidance from other quarters. The 30-nation Organisation For Economic Co-operation and Development has a number of experts on school building safety in earthquake prone areas. It also has on its rolls experts who guide students and teachers prepare for the worst. The consortium has carried out detailed surveys of vulnerable school buildings of its member nations and experts on its rolls have designed earthquake safe buildings. In addition they have either retrofitted old buildings to make them more durable or reconstructed them with the help of locally available lighter and cheaper material.

We, however, need to be cautious about retrofitting even though it's a less costly option, because many school buildings in the hills may not be able to withstand hammering to drive in steel rails. Preparedness of school kids and teachers is a must and for that specially designed programmes are easily available. The National Disaster Management Authority of the Union ministry of home affairs has drawn up many such training programmes. In addition, the Union government keeps allocating funds for the safety of school buildings, as well as other buildings. These funds are hardly utilized says a state government official from Uttarakhand who did not want to be named.

In many schools in Bageshwar in Uttarakhand posts of teachers are lying vacant, while the enrolment of students is at its optimum. When there are not sufficient teachers to teach the regular curriculum, it is very unlikely that there will be any to teach students ways to save their life during an earthquake.

Are our children in the Himalayan states safe from the earthquake hazard? Only time and governments can answer this question. Till then a greater socio-political will and involvement is required to save our future from perishing in their alma- maters.

[V K Joshi, former director, Geological Survey of India (CSE/Down To Earth Feature Service)]