baseline survey - un escap · through a baseline study focusing at the waste generated by...

SOLID WASTE

MANAGEMENT IN

ISLAMABAD

BASELINE

SURVEY DECEMBER 2013

A preface can be written in order to present the background and limitation of the study to the readers.

DISCLAIMER

This publication has been issued without formal editing. The designations employed and the

presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever

on the part of the secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory,

city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Mention

of firm names and commercial products does not imply the endorsement of the United Nations. The

views expressed in the report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the

United Nations Secretariat. The opinions, figures and estimates set forth in this publication are the

responsibility of the authors, and should not necessarily be considered as reflecting the views or

carrying the endorsement of the United Nations.

PREFACE

TABLE OF CONTENT

1 INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………………………...….1

2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY…………………………………………………………….....2

3 OVERVIEW OF ALREADY EXISTING WASTE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM…………..4

3.1 Waste Collection and Transport …………………………………………………………..….....5

3.2 Waste treatment and Disposal……………………………………………….………………......6

3.3 Waste Generation and Expenditures ………………………………………………………….…6

3.4 Analysis of Institutional Capacity…………………………………………….………………....7

4 FINDINGS OF THE SURVEYS ON SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT IN PROJECT

AREA…………………………………………………………………………………………......8

4.1 WASTE GENERATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF SOLID WASTE AT HOUSEHOLD

LEVEL….……………………………………………………………………………………….....8

4.1.1 Findings on Waste generation ………………………………………………...…………….....8

4.1.2 Findings on Waste Characterization ……………………………………….………...……....10

4.2 WASTE GENERATION AND CHARACTERIZATION AT COMMERCIAL LEVEL …..….12

4.2.1 Findings on Waste generation ……………………………………………….………………12

4.2.2 Findings on Waste Characterization………………………………………………………….13

4.3 INFORMAL SECTOR ACTIVITIES…………………………………………………………….14

5 ASSESSMENT OF COMMUNITY NEEDS AND DEMAND ON WASTE MANAGEMENT

………………………………………………………………………………………………….....15

6 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION………………………………………………...16

5 SOILD WASTE MANAGEMENT BASELINE SURVEY FOR ISLAMABAD

1. INRODUCTION

The rapid urbanization and economic development in Asia-Pacific has resulted in a

corresponding growth in the volume of solid waste generation. Managing solid waste

is one of the costliest urban services in developing countries, where local governments spend 20 to 50

per cent of their budget on solid waste management. Despite the high spending on waste management,

cities are finding it increasingly difficult to collect process and dispose solid waste in a cost effective

and environmentally friendly manner. The current approach to solid waste management in Asia Pacific

focus on end of pipe solutions based on collection and disposal of waste in the landfill, with no

attention paid to the 3R (reduce, re-use and recycle) principles of waste management. In addition to

facing increasing costs for waste collection and disposal, public health and the environment suffer due

to the negative externalities associated with poor waste collection and disposal.

In 2009, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific embarked on a

regional project “Pro poor and Sustainable Solid Waste Management in Secondary Cities and Small

Towns" to find an appropriate approach to solid waste management that would transform waste into

resources, improve waste collection services and provide better income and working conditions for

waste pickers. The overarching objective of the project is to develop and execute solid waste

management strategies that are decentralized, pro poor, low carbon and financially viable. The project

contributes to this goal by setting up Integrated Resource Recovery Centers (IRRCs) in secondary

cities and small towns in number of countries in the region namely Bangladesh, Cambodia, Sri Lanka,

and Viet Nam that are run through a combination of partnerships between the local government,

NGO’s, cooperatives and small and medium enterprises. In this regard, ESCAP has collaborated with

UN Habitat in the implementation of the first IRRC project in Pakistan.

Current poor solid waste management practices demand need of developing a mechanism for efficient

solid waste management. To this purpose, UN-Habitat and ESCAP commissioned Environmental

Management Consultants (EMC) and Centre for waste management to conduct a baseline study for solid

waste management in Islamabad city. The main objectives of the study are

Obtaining an understanding of the waste generation and collection practices in the Project area

through a baseline study focusing at the waste generated by households, small businesses and

vegetable and fruit markets.

Qualification and Quantification of waste produced at household and commercial sectors.

Market chain analysis of recyclables.

Identifying the potential for waste recovery/recycling and energy generation.


2. OVERVIEW OF CURRENT SOLID WASTE

MANAGEMENT

The volume of solid waste generated within the municipal limits of Islamabad ranges

between 900 ~ 1000 metric tons per day, with an average of 0.283 kg/capita/day to

0.613 kg/capita/day or from 1.896 kg/house/day to 4.29 kg/house/day with a particular trend of waste

generation according to social values and economic conditions. The waste generated is mixed type of

solid waste and includes municipal/ kitchen/green/domestic waste, commercial, building material and

other scrap.

It must be realized that the solid waste problem being faced by Islamabad and other urban areas has

emanated from waste collection and disposal technologies that were neither appropriate nor

economically viable; being environmentally sustainable is a far cry. CDA has employed the highly

capital intensive waste-compaction and collection vehicles to collect low density, high-volume wastes

that operate on streets hardly built to withstand high axle-loading rates. This technology may be

appropriate for the developed countries but not for developing countries where a liter of gasoline costs

more than one dollar. There the transportation cost has to be minimal, and in order to be cost effective

the collection system needs to be decentralized and the disposal system localized to the

microenvironment or the sector concerned.

Islamabad and other cities have an active informal sector and micro-enterprise recycling, reuse and

repair systems, which have competitive recycling and recovery rates to stay in business.


3.1 WASTE COLLECTION AND TRANSPORTATION

CDA has the overall responsibility for planning, provision and supervision of public health services,

covering adequate sanitation and garbage disposal within its territorial limits (GoP, CDA Ordinance:

1960). The Directorate of Sanitation has the functional responsibility within CDA for sanitation and

management of solid waste disposal in the municipal limits of Islamabad. The sanitation management

system includes collection, transportation and safe disposal of solid waste collected from residential

and commercial areas, as well as open spaces.

Prescribed Frequency of Street Cleaning is once a day until 09.00 AM, Collection of Waste from

Residential/ Commercial Areas in sectors of Islamabad is also once a day in between 9.00 AM to

12.00 Noon while sweeping is done in two shifts in commercial areas till 10.00 PM. Hydraulic Refuse

Packers (Garbage Compacting Vehicles) ,Skip Lifters and Dump trucks & trolleys collect the

accumulated waste, green/garden waste, debris, building material or other scattered waste for

transportation to a final disposal site once a day from 08.00 A.M to 04.00 P.M. The entire waste

collected during the cleansing operation is transported to the designated final disposal site and is

disposed as per instructions issued from time to time or as per policy of the Authority.

3.2 WASTE TREATMENT AND DISPOSAL

“The CDA collects solid waste which includes municipal/kitchen/green/domestic waste commercial

building material and other scrape, but does not include hazardous/toxic, hospital, industrial

waste, so in other words, the CDA is not responsible for the waste generated by these

organizations.

It became a nuisance as the city grew in size and the population increased from about 0.3 million to an

estimated 1.8 million. The landfill site was moved to its present site in Sector I-12, but only after the

Islamabad High Court took notice of the menace when it shifted to the new premises in Sector G-10.

The site measuring 100 acres in Mouza Kuri was allotted for planning and development of landfill in

Islamabad but development of the landfill site could not be started due to issues on land acquisition.

An area of 20 acres adjacent to a landfill site in Kuri allotted for establishment of compost plant met

the same fate. Another land area measuring 1.79 acres was allotted by CDA Board Decision at sector

H-11/2 for construction of material recovery facility (MRF) and transfer station in 2007. The Project

however, did not take off. Now that two housing schemes are being set up at the same site, the CDA is

looking for another site somewhere in the “I” sector.

2.3 WASTE GENERATION


Data generated by Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA) Study 2 (acknowledgement of

JICA study) shows that there is a substantial variation in the quantum of waste generated from

different sectors in Islamabad. Although this study was carried out ten years before and it has been

used to reflect upon the approximation of waste generation from different sectors in Islamabad. Table

1 show the sector wise average waste generation in in Islamabad city.

Table 1: Sector wise average waste generation in Islamabad

Sector Amount of Waste Sector Amount of Waste

E-8 1.2 Tons / day G-7 20.7 Tons / day

E-9 2.7 Tons / day G-8 12.2 Tons / day

F-5 14.2 Tons / day G-9 22.0 Tons / day

F-6 11.2 Tons / day G-10 12.5 Tons / day

F-7 & E-7 19.3 Tons / day G-11 5.7 Tons / day

F-8 23.6 Tons / day I-8 /H-8 46.3 Tons / day

F-10 10.6 Tons / day I-9 / H-9 7.2 Tons / day

F-11 6.1 Tons / day I-10 37.1 Tons / day

G-5 1.3 Tons / day I-11 85.8 Tons / day

G-6 82.8 Tons / day

Source: Waste Amount Survey in Islamabad, JICA/EPA October 2004

3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY


Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan with an area of 906 sq. km (Govt. of Pakistan: 1960), having an

urban area comprises of sectors with series of C, D, E, F, G, H and I. Every series has numbers

ascending from East to West with 61 urban sectors in which 23 sectors have been developed up till

now. The master plan of Islamabad has Islamabad Capital Territory, municipal limits and the

peripheral limits within which Sanitation Directorate performs its functions.

A methodology was adopted for Qualification and Quantification of the solid waste generated in

Islamabad’s sectors through prepared questionnaire surveys including households, commercial, and

market chain. To this purpose the guidelines prepared by Waste Concern and UN-ESCAP were closely

followed. The guidelines facilitates the development of an action plans for solid waste management in

secondary cities and small towns. More information on guidelines can be found on

www.waste2resource.org. Three sectors from Islamabad city namely I-9, I-10 and G-15 were selected

based on the interest expressed by Islamabad municipality (Capital Development Authority) and

agreement by UN Habitat Pakistan to estimate the waste generation and potential for solid waste

management. The three sectors are fully developed and have the residential and commercial areas

organized according to plot size, which in turn are distributed according to the income level. The survey

was conducted for three different classes: low income, medium income and high income in three

different sectors of Islamabad city.

Mentioned below are the three components of the study

I. determination of sample size,

STUDY AREA

STUDY AREA

http://www.waste2resource.org/


II. conducting a structured questionnaire survey, and

III. collection, analysis solid waste from household and commercial units.

The plot sizes range from 3.5 to 9 Marlas1 (1 marla = ?) and the income level of the community’s

resident in these plots varies according the plot size. The plot sizes are in turn distributed approximately

accordingly to the following income level:

i. Lower Middle (3.5 to 5 marlas), ii) Middle (5 to 7 marlas), iii) High (more than 7 marlas)

ii. The above distribution of income level in terms of plot sizes was agreed upon by all stakeholders

including the CDA and UN Habitat. The two sectors have accommodation of government and private

houses with 1149 & 6121 residential units respectively. The total population in Sector I-9 and Sector I-10

is 20810 and 42173 respectively as per the census survey of 1998. The detail of number of residential

and commercial units in sector I-9 & I-10 with reference to the income group were also verified from

CDA.

Sample size was accordingly determined using the following simple random sampling formula:

Sample size for 1st income group, n1 = (N1/N) × n; Where, N1 = Population in the 1st income group

N = Total population, n = (N×z2×P×Q) / (N×d

2 + z

2×P×Q)

Here, P = Proportion of male respondents = 0.5, Q = Proportion of female respondents = 0.5

d = Precision = 7% (assumed), Z= 1.96 at 95% confidence level

For sector G-15, only high income households developed by private company Jammu Kashmir

Housing scheme were chosen for baseline study. Sector I-9 has no lower middle income household;

there is the middle income group and the high income group judged from the minor difference in size

of the plots. The data on population of each sector and income group was used in the sampling


formula to determine the numbers of samples for each income group. Accordingly 71 household units

from the middle income group and 96 households from among the high income group were selected

and refuse collection bags with labels were supplied to each household which agreed to participate in

this study.

Sector I-10 was found to have houses in lower middle income group, middle income group and high

income group. Accordingly 71 samples were collected from the 1st group, 62 from the 2

nd and 56 from

the 3rd

group.

The selected households were provided with the sacks/bags and requested to stock up the generated

waste in the sacks/bags. Each of the sample bags was weighed and recorded in the data sheets

according to the numbers assigned to households, shops and offices;

25 sacks/bags were selected randomly from those collected from each sample area and the household

or shop/ office numbers of the sacks/bags was recorded in the data sheet for volume measurement.

This process was repeated until all the 25 bags for each sample area were emptied and the number of

buckets of full loads counted; this was recorded for making estimates on the volume

The waste on the plastic sheet was separated into different types (e.g. vegetable matter, bones, paper,

textiles, plastics, leave/wood, leather/rubber, and glass/ceramic). The separated waste was put into

different buckets for weight measurement;

Weight of each type of waste was measured and recorded in the data sheet. All the wastes were

properly disposed of and the equipment cleaned;

Waste generated in the above areas was collected once a day at a fixed time for 7 consecutive days to

allow variation over the week (the sample of the first day was discarded as it may have contained waste

accumulated from 2 or more days).

Figure 2.1: Distribution of bags Figure 2.2: Collection of waste


Figure 2.3: Transportation in a trolley Figure 2.4: Weighing the bags

Figure 2.5: Segregation of waste Figure 2.6: Weighing the segregated waste

The following procedure was adopted for the commercial units of the Project Area.

a) Identification of commercial units

b) Division of the commercial areas into more specific categories (such as hotels and restaurants,

vegetable shops and stores, workshops and for each category selection of approximately 10-20

samples.

c) Selection of 40-50 shops and offices for the business area defined in step 3;

It may be stated here that the size comprising 50 commercial units as recommended by ESCAP was duly

surveyed in I-9 but the same could not be adopted for I-10. This was because the waste disposal system

at I-10 was being handled by the contractor to whom the shop owners/commercial units were obliged to

respond. As such survey for only 37 commercial units was possible in I-10.


4. FINDINGS OF SURVEYS ON SOLID WASTE

MANAGEMENT IN PROJECT AREA

4.1 WASTE GENERATION AND CHARACTERIZATION AT HOUSEHOLD

LEVEL

4.1.1 Findings on Waste generation

The data on waste generation from sectors I-9, I-10 and G-15 is tabulated below according to the

income group level. It shows the waste generation per capita per day and amount of waste generated

per household per day. The slight but significant increase in rate of waste generation with increase in

income level is, among other things, related to lifestyle changes that accompany affluence.

The small variation in bulk density of samples from the two sectors as presented below in table is most

likely due to the nature of the waste generated by the respective level of affluence in each income level

in each sector. The following tables present the summary of waste generation rates, waste composition

and waste bulk density in the two sectors at household level:

Table 3: Waste Generation Rates at Household Level

Area Sector Income Group Generating Rate

kg/c/day kg/household/day Kg/m3/households

Residential Sector I-9 Lower Middle - -

Middle 0.321 1.85 384.69

High 0.465 2.50 405.98

Sector I-10 Lower Middle 0.502 2.94 393.89

Middle 0.527 3.05 393.48

High 0.616 3.20 392.44

Sector G-15 High 2.37


1.2 Findings on Waste Characterization

The waste generated from the households of different income groups of the two Sectors: I-9 and I-10

is largely organic in nature. The lower share of green waste and food waste is only about 60%, which

makes the total wastes relatively dry and lowers the bulk density to 384.69 kg/m3, as compared with

the bulk density: 405.98 kg/m3 for high income residential area of the same sector which has relatively

more moist constituents:

Figure 4.1: Composition of Solid Waste in Middle Income Group in Sector I-9

Figure 4.2: Composition of Solid Waste in High Income Group in Sector I-9

Likewise the solid waste generated from the three income groups of households of Sector I-10 of

Islamabad have mostly organic constituents that include: Green waste and food waste including

vegetables and fruits comprising about 66% of the total waste; packaging material ranging from 2.3%

to 3.4%, plastic material including bottles 11.7 to 12.6%, paper 2.2 to 4.5% and textile trash 2.2 to

3.6%, with inorganics including glass and ceramics forming minor constituents that range from 2.5 to

3.0%.

21.12%

8.41%

11.51%

10.51%

38.05%

1.22%

3.00% 1.29% 2.24% 1.02% 1.63%

Green wastePackaging MaterialPlastic including plastic bottlesPampersFood Waste including vegetables and fruitsTextilePaperCeramicGlassLeather

17.44 4.73

10.07

7.73

52.14

1.2

2.25 1.15 2.3 0.99 0

Green wastePackaging MaterialPlastic including plastic bottlesPampersFood Waste including vegetables and fruitsTextilePaperCeramicGlass

23.69%

3.49%

11.72%

7.46%

43.41%

3.68%

3.44% 0.66% 1.89% 0.57% 0.00% Green wastePackaging MaterialPlastic including plastic bottlesPampersFood Waste including vegetables and fruitsTextilePaperCeramicGlass


Figure 4.3: Composition of Solid Waste in Lower Middle Income Group in Sector I-10

Figure 4.4: Composition of Solid Waste in Middle Income Group in Sector I-10

Figure 4.5: Composition of Solid Waste in High Income Group in Sector I-10

Survey data collected over the five days in G-15 sector for high income group shows that the waste is

highly in organic in nature. Total waste collected from 150 household weighed 356.7 of that 249.94

(69%) was organic waste.

Fig 4.6 Composition of solid waste in High Income households in G-15

The data on characterization of the solid waste in the residential units of surveyed Sectors show that

25 to 35% material is recyclable while about 60 to 65% is putrescible and hence compostable.

Improvement in quality of life accompanying affluence has introduced the use of pampers and sanitary

napkins which constitute about 7 to 10% of the total solid waste in these sectors. These constituents

are difficult to recycle; they need to be segregated at source and disposed along with hospital waste.

22.98% 3.31%

11.82%

8.29%

43.76%

2.43%

4.53% 0.33% 1.66% 0.88% 0.00% Green waste

Packaging Material

Plastic including plastic bottles

Pampers

Food Waste including vegetables andfruits

24.55%

2.37% 12.65%

10.36%

42.71%

2.21%

2.21% 0.40% 2.53% 0.00% 0.00% Green waste

Packaging Material

Plastic including plastic bottles

Pampers

Food Waste including vegetables andfruits

39%

0% 9% 1% 2% 0% 0% 3% 3% 12%

13%

18% vegetables Bones

paper textiles

Plastics Grass/woods

Leather/Rubber Metals

Glass/ceramics Shoppers

pampers Miscelleneous


4.2 WASTE GENERATION AND CHARACTERIZATION AT COMMERCIAL

LEVEL

The shops/commercial units (hotels, vegetable sellers, chicken shop, general store, juice sellers etc.)

were selected and garbage collection bags with labels were supplied to the shop owners who agreed to

participate in this study.

4.2.1 Findings on Waste Generation

All the bags supplied to shop owners were weighed to determine the average rate of waste generation

by the commercial units. The data on waste generation shows that the average weight of the waste per

commercial unit of Sector I-9 was 7.058 kg/day/unit and 6.731 kg/day/unit of Sector I-10.

The relatively high rate of waste generation was observed for restaurants and hotels which discharge

wet refuse that has high organic as well as moisture content. Moreover there is an increase in

patronage of eateries with increasing affluence and with that follows an increase in wastage.

The bulk density, arrived at from the data is 355.7 kg/m3 for commercial units in sector I-9 and 326.3

kg/m3 for the similar units in sector I-10. The small variation in bulk density of samples from the two

sectors is most likely due to the nature of the waste generated by the activity of the commercial units

in each sector. The eateries green vegetable stalls abound in both sectors and that is why the

composition of green waste is 21.33 percent in Sector I-9 and 23.87 percent in Sector I-10, while that

of Food Waste including vegetables and fruits is 53.93 percent in Sector I-9 and 51.90 percent in

Sector I-10.

The following tables present the summary of waste generation rates, waste composition and waste

bulk densities in the two sectors at commercial level:

Table 4: Waste Generation Rates at Commercial Level

Area Sector Generating Rate

kg/unit/day

Commercial Sector I-9 7.058

Sector I-10 6.731


4.2.2 Findings on Waste Characterization

The waste generated from the commercial area of sectors: I-9 & I-10 is largely organic in nature. The

solid waste generated from the commercial area of Sector I-9 of Islamabad has the following

composition: Green waste 21.33 percent, food waste including vegetables and fruits 53.93 percent,

packaging material 9.41 percent, plastic material including bottles 7.78 percent, and paper 5.76

percent. These constituents total almost 99% of the solid waste samples collected from the Markaz at

Sector I-9.

Likewise the solid waste generated from the commercial area of Sector I-10 of Islamabad has mostly

organic constituents that include: Green waste 23.87 percent, food waste including vegetables and

fruits 51.90 percent, packaging material 6.90 percent, plastic material including bottles 9.00 percent,

paper 3.8 percent and textiles 2.39 percent.

Figure 4.7: Composition of Solid Waste in Commercial Area of Sector I-9

Figure 4.8: Composition of Solid Waste in Commercial Area of Sector I-10

The data indicates that the commercial units of Sectors I-9 and I-10 generate about 25 percent material

that is recyclable and the remaining 74 percent that is putrescible and hence compostable.

21.33

9.41

9

0

53.93

0.24

5.76 0.08 0.24 0 0 Green wastePackaging MaterialPlastic including plastic bottlesPampersFood Waste including vegetables and fruitsTextilePaperCeramicGlassLeatherConstruction & Demolition

23.87

6.9

7.78

0

51.9

2.39

3.8 1.68 1.68 0 0 Green waste

Packaging MaterialPlastic including plastic bottlesPampersFood Waste including vegetables and fruitsTextilePaperCeramicGlassLeatherConstruction & Demolition


4.3 INFORMAL SECTOR ACTIVITIES

Surveys were conducted in Islamabad Sectors I-9 and I-10 to study the role of informal sector

involved in waste recycling and trading. It needs to be mentioned here that a survey of the formal

system reported in the earlier pages included the system of door to door collection of garbage. The

garbage so collected includes about 20 to 30 percent material that could be recycled and is being

recycled by scavengers. Bulk of the recyclables is retained by the households and is traded by the

recyclers who operate an organized marketing system in the informal sector.

The survey included interviews with i) the owners of shops and industries dealing with recyclable

materials to obtain information on the location as well as number of shops and industries using the

waste supplied by hawkers, waste pickers, CDA/Contractors staff and NGOs, and ii) hawkers to find

the marketing chain and its operations.

It has been noted that hawkers collect the material and sell their collection to small shop owners.

According to information from the marketing chain each shop has its own fixed number of hawkers

who are commissioned to collect/purchase the discarded material/junk on a daily basis.

Field observations and interviews reflect that there are two chains in operation: i) unorganized,

comprising the Afghani settlers3, working as scavengers/waste pickers and ii) organized involving the

hawkers/tin-dabbewalas who work for the junk dealers and are active partners in the supply chain.

The scavengers were sorting and segregating materials in separate bags for the Afghan Head who hires

their services at a cheap rate. These scavengers usually concentrate on collection of paper, plastic

material, glass and ceramics, and metal pieces.

The survey also reveals that the daily average income generated from selling of recyclable waste is Rs

150/day. The scavenger boys get about Rs. 75 to 100 / day; that is why all the boys are on the field to

earn a substantial amount for the family.

According to information received from the shop owners the collectors do not bring their

collected/segregated waste as much as the scavengers and tin-dabbewalas. The Afghan scavengers

take what is collected to the head of the family who stockpiles the material in his backyard from where

he carries it on a cart to the regular market. Around 20 to 30 percent recyclables from scavengers go to

the recyclables junk shops in comparison to 70 to 80 percent from tin-dabbewalas. The average

quantity of recyclable waste received by the junk shop owners varies from shop to shop, but it quite

certain that the owners are engaged in business that is flourishing in the informal sector.


5. ASSESSMENT OF COMMUNITY NEEDS AND DEMAND ON

WASTE MANAGEMENT

An assessment of community needs based on a questionnaire survey conducted from

the selected household and commercial units of project area was done to understand

the need of the waste management in the city and in the project area in particular. It was carried out

using the survey method to analyze the social and cultural habits of the inhabitants and their household

waste storage methods.

With regard to the satisfaction level , more than 70% of the house owners showed their dissatisfaction

regardless of the collection service providers whether it is operated by the contractors or collection

system adopted by CDA, realizing that the current system of operation is polluting their local

environment,. The response in general suggests that solid waste is disposed of in the project area

indiscriminately and the performance of the disposal system is inadequately monitored.

85% house owners in sector I-10 and 63.3% in I-9 were in favor of door to door collection that may be

billed by the municipality or the authority designated by CDA. More than 80% respondents in project

area said that they will separate garbage if two separate containers are provided.

Also, more than 70% of the house owners responded that they know about community based programs

and would like to participate to improve the sanitary and environmental conditions but water supply

problem stands to be the first priority of needs before solid waste management.

Surveys at household level also reflected that almost all the house owners prefer daily basis door to

door waste collection either in morning or evening and they are willing to pay Rs 100 to 200 for the

waste collection service.

Shop owners or their staffs are mainly are responsible for delivering the garbage into the collection

system. 95% respondents in Sector I-10 and 62% in Sector I-9 are not willing to separate organic

waste from the rest even if two separate containers are provided.

Only 31% respondents in Sector I-9 were ready to pay Rs. 100, while the rest did not respond perhaps

because the shop owners of the commercial area have their own arrangement.

CONCLUSION


The solid waste problem being faced by Islamabad has emanated from waste collection

and disposal technologies that have remained questionable in terms of economic and

environmental sustainability.

According to the questionnaire surveyed waste is mostly collected by municipal collectors but not

disposed properly which creates severe environmental problems around. From the results obtained, it

can be seen that the organic waste at the household and commercial level has more than sixty percent

of total waste share hence it can be converted into compost. Also it’s encouraging to note that

households are willing to separate the organic waste if the bins are provided to them. Based on the

results from surveyed household, sector G-15 has been identified as a good start for setting up an

IRRC center for effective waste management. The project intends to promote the waste segregation

and resource recovery such as collection of recyclables. It has been identified that these sectors have a

strong network of informal waste pickers; envisaged project would improve the recycling system and

subsequently the life quality of waste pickers. Furthermore, Pakistan is facing severe energy crisis and

high prices of chemical fertilizers in national market. The raw material like rock phosphate is

depleting at an even faster rate. Thus, replacing the chemical fertilizer to natural fertilizer makes a

relevant case which is both cost effective and sustainable with regards to soil fertility and productivity.

The sound practice of solid-waste management can be disseminated through training and education.

Training should include GP (Green Productivity) tools and techniques, as well as regulatory

mechanisms and the financial benefits that can be derived. Successful transfer of technologies, under

the current economic conditions, requires the transportation cost to be minimal, and the mechanism of

disposal to be cost effective and simple. Both conditions need a review of the current collection and

disposal system because haulage to distant sites is likely to be economically unviable and sorting of

the trash cannot be left to the scavengers. A well-managed compost plant would promote the waste

segregation at local level and would save the transportation cost of the waste. The active involvement

of local communities and the private sector is essential for an effective waste-management system.

This process needs to be accelerated in a well-planned manner.


For more information please contact ESCAP’s Sustainable Urban Development Section

Email: [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

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