Management Management Management Management Management Management Management 24 The Cost and Management, May-J une, 2008 25 The Cost and Management, May-J une, 2008 26 The Cost and Management, May-J une, 2008 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT IN BANGLADESH A STUDY ON MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN CHITTAGONG Mohammed Rafiqul Alam, FCMA Mir Hossain Sohel Mr. Mohammed Rafiqul Alam FCMA, Former Chairman, CBC of ICMAB & Senior Accounts Officer, Chittagong Port Authority and Mir Hossain Sohel, Lecturer, Department of Marketing, University of Chittagong. Abstract : Bangladesh is a densely populated country in the third world facing myriads of problems with the growth of population. The increased population leads to the growth of urban areas and slums which, in turn, generating a huge volume of waste. A large proportion of the waste is not properly managed and dumped in unplanned sites that are creating severe environmental hazards. The study aims at exploring the present method of solid waste management in Chittagong. In order to conduct the research, both primary and secondary data has been used. This paper highlights the status of waste generation and its management. Finally it suggests some guidelines in the way of proper waste management. Keywords : Waste, management, solid waste management system. 1. Introduction Municipal solid waste management (MSWM) encompasses planning, engineering, organization, administration, financial and legal aspects of activities associated with generation, storage, collection, transfer and transport, processing and disposal of municipal solid wastes (household garbage and rubbish, street sweepings, construction debris, sanitation residues etc.) in an environmentally compatible manner adopting principles of economy, aesthetics, energy and conservation (Tchobanoglous et al, 1993). The explosion in urban population is changing the nature of solid waste management in developing countries from mainly a low priority, localized issue to an internationally pervasive social problem. Bangladesh, the worlds seventh highest populated country with population of 147.36 million (July 2006 est.) (Wikipedia 2007) and one of the fastest urbanizing countries, is a land of physical, climatic, geographic, ecological, social, cultural and linguistic diversity. At present there are 522 urban centers in the country including 254 municipalities and 6 City Corporations (BBS, 1997 and NILG, 2002). With over 3.3% annual growth in urban population in Bangladesh during 1991-2001 census years, solid waste generation has also increased proportionately with the growth of urban population. As such, most of the urban local bodies are finding it difficult to keep pace with the demand for adequate solid waste management and conservancy services provided by the urban local bodies. Banhgladesh has achieved multifaceted socio economic progress during the last 36 years of its independence. However, in spite of heavy expenditure by the Civic bodies, the present level of service in many urban areas is so low that there is a threat to the public health in particular and the environmental quality in general. Management of Municipal Solid Wastes (MSW) continues to remain one of the most neglected areas of urban development in Bangladesh. The 06 metro cities and pourashavas in Bangladesh generate about 13,332 tonnes (Sinha, 2006) of such wastes per day. Piles of Garbage and wastes of all kinds littered everywhere have become common sight in our urban life. Magnitude and density of urban population in Bangladesh is increasing rapidly and consequently the Civic bodies are facing considerable difficulties in providing adequate services such as supply of water, electricity, roads, education and public sanitation, including MSWM. Municipal agencies spend about 10-15% of their budget on MSWM. In spite of such heavy expenditure, the present level of service in many urban areas is so low that there is a threat to the public health in particular and the environmental quality in general. At present, the existing solid waste management system in Bangladesh not well organized and hence not serving the proper solution of the problem. However, efforts are under way to improve the solid waste management system in different cities/towns. The researchers have observed a gap between the existing SWM system and SWM system should be to redeem the problems occurring due to the existing improper SWM system. This research gap has created a proclivity among the researchers to conduct a research on the subjected topics. 2. Objectives The objectives of the study are To explore the present status of municipal solid waste generation and its management in Chittagong. To identify the existing solid waste management system. To recommend a schematic SWM Model in order to improve the present waste management system. 3. Methodology Both primary and secondary data have been used in conducting the study. Primary data have been collected by applying qualitative technique like depth interview and personal contact approach. Total sample respondents are 60. Data have been collected purposively from different respondents group like city corporation employees, housewives, garbage collectors (tokais & scavengers). Their opinion has been collected to get an insight into existing waste management system. Their suggestion has also been considered in the study. Secondary data have been collected through pursuing different reports of city corporation, web materials, various articles, journals and books. 4. A Brief History Of Chittagong City, Uneven Urbanization and Impact on Solid Waste Management Chittagong is the second largest city in Bangladesh, covering an area of 200 km 2 and with the population estimated to be 3.65 million (UNDP, 2004). It is situated on the bank of Karnaphuli River, approximately 260 kilometers south of the nation's capital of Dhaka. The city began to grow as a tiny municipality in 1863 with a population of 25,000. It was reconstituted as & municipality on the 15th July, 1864. Till 1898 the town was full of ditches, t i dal canal s and j ungl es. Most of the roads were unpaved and muddy. Today the city serves as a commercial center for the whole country. Around 40% of Bangladesh` s heavy industrial activities are located in Chittagong and the surrounding areas, as well as an international airport, the largest sea-port, universities, colleges, TV and radio stations, hospitals, museums, botanical and zoological gardens, a beach, stadium, and many other civic and recreational spots are also available. Now the city is experiencing rapid urban growth which has resulted in a lot of problems, including high c-hild and maternal mortality rates, un-planned growth, unemployment, environmen-- tal pollution, absence of a solid waste manage-ment, unplanned hill cutting, lack of sewerage system, water logging, restricted power and water supply, lack of civic facilities and amenities and t-raffic congestion. 4.1. Urbanization and Solid Waste Management In case of Chittagong City, urbanization has been taking place in three ways: 1.Area expansion 2.Population growth. & 3.Rural to urban Migration And 3rd of the above factors was very much contributed to Chittagong City's population growth significantly. Chittagong is growing at a rate of 4.5%, where more than 60% of the city dwellers are migrants from neighboring districts, who are attracted perceived as better living conditions and opportunities in the urban area. Table 1: Urbanization and Urban Population Growth in Bangladesh and Chittagong Bangladesh Chittagong Year Total Urban Percent of Urban Average Annual Total Urban Population Population Growth rate (%) Population 1951 1819773 4.33 1.69 145,777 1961 2640726 5.19 3.75 171,389 1974 6273602 8.78 6.62 416,733 1981 13535963 15.54 10.63 1,025,846 1991 20872204 20.15 5.43 1,392,860 2001* 28808477 23.39 3.27 2004** 3,652,802 2025 Source: BBS 1997,*BBS, 2001, ** UNDP 2004 This comparative study indicates that 1951-61 base year to 1974-81 the population of Chittagong has steadily increasing with a significant growth rate of 7.64%. This high rate was mainly attributed to the migration of a large number of people from different part of the country for obtaining job, education & business opportunities just after the creation of Bangladesh in 1971. Again Chittagong City's population figure increased from 10,25,846 in 1981 to 1392860 in 1991 showing an average increase in urban population at a growth rate of 3.11% and this growth rate is increasing gradually. According to UNDP report 2004, the population of Chittagong City Corporation was 3,652,802. By 2006 the estimated population of Chittagong City Corporation was 6 million (Wikipedia, 2007) At present, the existing living condition in Chittagong is characterized by a rapid population increase, severe housing shortage, unplanned road networks resulting in incessant traffic jams, general overcrowding, and large heaps of refuse dotting different parts of the city. 4.2. Status of Waste Generation in Chittagong Generally, waste generation is a part of every human activity, occurs due to wrongly structured production and consumption patterns. Therefore, population constitutes a vital component of urban solid waste management and disposal. The 1991 base population census figure for Chittagong City Corporation stood at 1,392,860 and the nationally adopted average annual growth rate is 3.3% for urban areas (BBS 1991). The population of Chittagong city Corporation was 3.65 million as at 2004 (UNDP Report, 2004). With this rapid population growth rate, it becomes more difficult to efficiently manage solid waste where population is not taken into consideration, as in Chittagong. Table 2: Waste generation in Chittagong city City / Town Chittagong WGR* (Kg/Cap/Day) 0.48 No. of City/Town 01 Total Population (2005) 2,383,725 Total waste generation (Ton/Day) Population** (2005) 2,622,098 Dry Season 1258.61 Avg. TWG*** (Ton/Day) 1548.09 Wet Season 1837.57 *WGR Waste Generation rate ** Including 10% increase for floating population. *** TWG Total waste generation which increases 46% in wet season from dry season. Source: Chittagong city corporation 4.3. Characteristics of solid Wastes In urban Bangladesh, solid wastes are originated from residential houses, street sweeping, commercial, industrial and other sources. These includes dust, ash, vegetable and animal bones, putrescible matter, paper and packing of all kinds, rags and other torn fabrics, garment materials (wastes) glass and many other non-combustible trash. These wastes are often thrown into and / or dumped and piled up roadside or corner dustbins, vacant spaces near markets, road intersections and other such areas. Table - 3: Approximate composition of solid wastes (% by weight) in Bangladesh, compared with India and Europe Waste Components Bangladesh* India Europe Chittagong** Food & Vegetable wastes 70 75 30 67.65 Paper Products 4 2 27 9.73 Plastics 5 1 3 5.10 Rags - 3 3 2.50 Metals 0.13 0.1 7 0.26 Glass & Ceramics 0.25 0.2 11 1.13 Wood 0.16 - - 0.80 Garden Wastes 11 - 4~5 3.40 Others(Stones, dirt etc) 5 7 3 8.79 Medicine & Chemical - - - 0.64 Moisture content 65 22~32 15~35 60 Source: Cairncross and Feachem, 1993; *IFRD and BCSIR, 1998,**Field survey The composition of solid waste in Bangladesh includes organic food waste, paper and paper products, wood, metal, glass, plastics including hospital waste, construction waste, industrial; waste, dust, firewood and others. According to Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) statistics nearly 46% of the city solid waste is generated from residential area, 18% and 23% from commercial and industrial area respectively, and the rest from hospitals and clinics. This figure is differed from different towns and from different areas in the same town. Table - 3 summarizes and compares typical composition of solid waste from developing and industrialized countries. 5. Legal Framework for Solid Waste Management At present there is no separate policy or handling rules for solid waste management in Bangladesh. However, Ministry of Environment and Forest is currently preparing a comprehensive solid waste management handling rules for the country. The existing legal aspects relating to solid waste management can be classified into two groups, which are given below: a) National Level Framework Environment Conservation Act, 1995 requires that before establishment of industrial enterprise as well as undertaking of projects environmental aspects must be given due consideration and prior environmental clearance is obtained. As such, for the purpose of environmental clearance, the Environment Conservation Rules 1997 made under the Act. Apart from Environment Conservation Rules 1997, to improve the waste disposal system the Government has recently formulated some policies and plans, which are: National Environmental Management Action Plan (NEMAP) has been prepared for a 10-year period (1995-2005), by the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) of the Government of Bangladesh in consultation with people from all walks of life (GoB, 1995). Urban Management Policy Statement, 1998, prepared by the Government of Bangladesh has clearly recommended the municipalities for privatization of services as well as giving priority to facilities for slum dwellers including provision of water supply, sanitation and solid waste disposal (GoB, 1998a). National Policy for Water Supply and Sanitation 1998 prepared by the Local Government Division of the Ministry of Local Government Rural Development & Cooperatives gives special emphasis on participation of private sector and NGOs in water supply and sanitation in urban areas through proper collection of wastes, use and recycling. National Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Strategy 2004 prepared by the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) has identified waste sector as one of the potential sectors for attracting CDM finance in the country. The waste sector options for Bangladesh can be landfill gas recovery, composting, poultry waste, and human excreta management using eco-sanitation and wastewater treatment. b) Local Level Legal Framework In Bangladesh, solid waste management is entrusted with urban local government bodies. The responsibility of removal and disposal of municipal solid waste lies with the City Corporations and municipalities. The six City Corporation Ordinances and Pourshava Ordinance 1977 are the only local law that gives some idea about disposal of municipal waste. These ordinances contain identical provisions relating to solid waste management, which are as follows: The pourshava or city corporation shall be responsible for sanitation of the municipality/city corporation area and for the control of environmental pollution. A pourashava or city corporation shall make adequate arrangements for removal of refuse from all public streets, public latrines, urinals, drains, and all buildings and land vested in the pourshava or city corporation and for collection and proper disposal of such waste. Subject to the general control and supervision of the pourashava/city corporation, the occupiers of all other Households, shops and establishments Organic/food waste Deposit in hand cart/tri -cycle Temporary waste storage depot Compost plant Domestic hazardous waste Special bin for hazardous was te Secured landfill Recyclable waste Handover to rag picker i.e., street hawkers, Tokai, and scavenger etc. NGO/Cooperative middleman/traders Wholesalers Recycling Industry Market Community bin container Final product. Market Landfill Site and construction & demolition waste Fill low -lying area or use as cover material at landfill sites Rejects Market/stre et waste Street sweeping/collection by CCC authority Household/ commercial waste generation Waste storage Temporary storage at the source of generation Waste collection 1. Community bin system 2. Demountable container 3. House-to- house collection (community initiative) Waste transportation Open truck collection Demountable truck Tractors & Trailers Waste for land dumping by CCC authority Housewives recover refuse of higher market value and sell them to street hawkers Tokais collect different items of low market value from waste collection bins Dump pickers Recycling Dealers Separate materials in proper form Intermediate processing like washing, drying and sorting Appropriate processing factories Scavengers salvaging when municipal trucks unload fresh refuse Waste to unauthorized dumnsites Chief Conservancy Officer (CCO) Conservancy Officer (CO) Assistant Conservancy Officer (ACO) Conservancy Inspectors (CI) Cleaners and swepers 27 The Cost and Management, May-J une, 2008 28 The Cost and Management, May-J une, 2008 buildings and land shall be responsible for removal of refuse from such buildings and lands. The poursahava/city corporation may, and if so required by the governments shall provide public bins or other receptacles at suitable places and by public notice, require that all refuse accumulating in any premise or land shall be deposited by the owner or occupier of such premises or land in designated bins or receptacles. All refuse removed and collected by staff of pourashava/city corporation or under their control and supervision and all refuse deposited in the bins and other receptacles provided by the poursahava/city corporation shall be the property of the pourashava/city corporation. A pourashava/city corporation shall provide adequate public drains in the municipality/city area and all such drains shall be constructed, maintained, kept cleared, and emptied with due regard to health and convenience of the public. 6. Institutional Arrangement for Solid Waste Management In Bangladesh Presently, the solid waste management system in Bangladesh in not well organized. However, efforts are under way to improve the organizational structure for solid waste management in different cities/towns. For instance, Dhaka City Corporation has recently established a Solid Waste Management Cell to improve the waste management services in the city. In most of the city corporations and municipalities there is no separate department for solid waste management. Solid waste management is organized and run by conservancy section of the urban local bodies, whose prime responsibility is maintenance of the sanitation system. The organizational structure of conservancy section is shown in Figure- 1. (Only in City Corporations) Figure 1: Organizational Structure of Conservancy Section in Urban Local Bodies in Bangladesh The Cost and Management, May-J une, 2008 30 The Cost and Management, May-J une, 2008 The number of staff for conservancy varies from city to town depending upon the size of the city and the workload. Some of the cleaners and sweepers are hired on temporary basis. Although, the organizational structure presented in Figure 1 deals with the collection and storage of waste as well as street sweeping, separate department in the city corporations and municipalities does transportation of waste. The chief conservancy officer or the conservancy officer in the pourasahavs has to coordinate with the transport department to get the waste transferred from collection points to designated waste disposal sites. Generally in most of the urban local bodies have insufficient number of staff involved in waste management activities. In addition to the shortage of personnel, the staffs are handicapped with relatively small amount of resources available to them for management of solid waste in their particular area of operation. An elaborate system of solid waste management has evolved over time in Chittagong city. The Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) provides movable dustbins made of corrugated sheets and fixed concrete bins all over the city for home and business owners to dump the refuse. The city also employs cleaners who collect the street sweeping and drain silts and deposit those in the nearest bins. Vehicles then take those solid wastes to designated landfills. In 1989, a system of nighttime, instead of daytime, collection of refuse was introduced which is no longer being followed. The CCC has a large staff and developed an elaborate supportive infrastructure for managing solid waste. It now employs 1840 conservancy staff, most of whom are part-- timers and another 135 as supervisory staff. With an estimated population of around 3.6 million, the city employs little over half a person per 1,000 resident while 3-6 persons are considered to be necessary for a satisfactory manual system of solid waste management (UNCH, 1988). The Chief Conservancy Officer heads the collection and disposal activities, which is assisted by a transport department. The supervisory staff uses 47 wireless sets, jeeps and motor cycles for overseeing the work of the cleaners. It uses 94 special lorry for hauling wastes. The CCC spends between 14-17% of its budget for solid waste management (CCC Budget, 2005-2006) compared to 20-40% for municipalities in developing countries (Yousuf, 1996). Given the estimated population of around 3.6 million for the City, the CCC spends about Tk. 26 or little over US 50 cents per person for an entire year for collecting and disposing of solid waste. This is no doubt a very paltry sum. CCC `s human concentration per household is 5. Its total no. of word is 41. Generally 55 workers are employed in wards those are in the metropolitan area. In rural side this figure is less than 55. Table-4: Solid Waste Management Chittagong City Corporation Item Position 1 Production per day 1000-1200 M. Ton 2 Dumping per day 700-1000 M. Ton 3 Dumping place (02) 01 at Halishahar 5 acres, and other is at Roufabad 16 acres 4 Number of workers engaged in dumping and conservancy works 1840 5 Drain ( Small & Large) 440 km (approx), Pucca 840 nos 6 Dustbin Concrete 65 nos, Open 569 nos 94 (Covered + Uncovered) 7 Number of lorry / carriers 49 ~ Morning, 38~Afternoon, 7~ Night 8 Number of container 22 (approx) 9 Number of conservancy ward 24 10 Number of non-conservancy ward 17 Source: Chittagong city Corporation, 2004 It must be noted that solid waste management in Chittagong city now encompasses collection of wastes from specific locations, dumping of these in designated landfills, and reclamation or resource recovery. Table-5: CCC Waste Collection and Treatment Latest year available 2006 Municipal waste collected 1000 tones 37600 Municipal waste land filled % 20 % Municipal waste incinerated % 20 % Municipal waste recycled/composted % 65 % Source: CCC, 2006 CCC is collecting almost 60% of the Household Garbage in the city (CCC, 2006) and at the same time Inorganic (Polythene, Plastic, Metal, Iron, Silver, Aluminum, Paper Board/Hard Board etc.) part of the garbage is being recycled by the concerned industrial activities already developed in the city area. On the other hand, the Organic Garbage is being used for producing Organic Fertilizer through Composting and remaining hard Garbage particles are being utilized for producing Firewood. 7. Present Management Practices The present system of MSWM in Bangladesh can be depicted by Figure 2. Waste generated at households is generally accumulated in small containers (often plastic buckets). This waste is not disposed off into community bin until sufficient quantity of waste is accumulated. Containers used for household storage of solid wastes are of many shapes and sizes, and are fabricated from a variety of materials. The type of the container generally reflects the economic status of its user (i.e., the waste generator). Waste segregation at source is not practiced. The community storage system is usually practiced in Bangladesh. Individuals deposit their waste in bins located at street corners at specific intervals. The containers generally are constructed of metal, concrete, or a combination of the two. Community storage may reduce the cost of waste collection, and can minimize problems associated with lack of on site storage space. However, unless these community storage arrangements are conveniently located, householders tend to throw their wastes into the roadside gutters for clearance by street sweeping crews. Even where storage arrangements are conveniently located, wastes tend to be strewn around the storage area, partly due to indiscipline and partly as a result of scavenging of the wastes by rag-pickers and stray animals. In a country like Bangladesh, where cheap labor is available, the collection methods are labor intensive and cheaper compared to mechanized collection. Due to the absence of adequate storage capacity for the refuse generated and poor discipline among the generators, the wastes are continually dumped on the road. To improve conservancy operations, authorities feel that the lack of civic awareness among city residents is proving to be a major hurdle to maintain the city clean. The problem is most acute in slums and low and middle income group areas. It will be nearly impossible for the civic body to provide better surroundings if residents do not take efforts to deposit the waste into the bins and stop the practice of throwing garbage on to the road. A conservancy worker has to cover a certain area by a specific time. If public are going to distribute garbage all along the road, the conservancy worker cannot cover the complete area assigned for him and some areas may not be covered on some days. Because of these poor conditions for temporary storage of wastes, in some areas NGOs have become involved in making arrangements for waste collection from households leading to improvement in local street cleanliness (Salequzzaman et al,1999). Different types of vehicles are used for waste transportation. However, the general-purpose open body trucks of 5 to 9 tones capacity are in common use. In smaller ward areas, tricycle vans are used. Mostly municipal vehicles transport the waste; though, in some large towns, private vehicles are also hired to augment the fleet size. The maintenance of the vehicles is carried out in the general municipal workshop along with other municipal vehicles where the municipal refuse vehicles receive the least priority. Most of these workshops have facilities for minor repairs only. Al though preventi ve mai ntenance i s necessary to maintain collection fleet in proper operating condition, neglect of preventive maintenance is a common situation. Commercial sector like shops, offices, hotels etc all use the community waste bins and their wastes are also collected along with the household wastes except in a rare number of commercial complexes where they pay a negotiated fee to the Municipal Authorities for collecting waste from their premises. Most of the shops do not open before 9 am and so do not put out their waste out until that time, which will be left mostly on the street until the next day's collection. In short, even if there is regular collection services wastes are always seen on the streets. Several thousands of urban dwellers in Bangladesh, make their living upon wastes in many small industries using plastics, tin cans, bottles, bones, hair, leather, glass, metal etc recovered from MSW. All metals, unsoiled paper, plastics, glass, cardboard etc are readily marketable and hence recycled by householders themselves or Rag-pickers. By the time waste reaches the community bins, it contains every little in the way of recyclable and consists mainly of vegetable / fruit peelings, scraps of soiled paper and plastic, used toiletries etc. (Salequzzaman et al,1998). The larger proportion of organic matter in MSW indicates the desirability of biological processing of waste. Though composting was a prevalent biological processing practice in Bangladesh, in the past due to non-availability of adequate space in the urban centers and poor segregation of wastes, composting has been discontinued as a practice. Recently efforts are taken to popularize waste segregation and Composting. Characteristics of the Bangladeshi MSW bring out the fact that establishing composting plants using the organic wastes as raw materials will be a profit generating industry. It will also in turn, will create income-generating opportunity for the hardcore poor segment of the society (Sinha, 2006). Most of times, the assigned places for throwing garbage on the dustbins or whatever in many places of the cities are seen remaining heaped high with garbage for days at a stretch. Most of the time the carrying waste is dumped within the City surrounded by residential area. Despite assurances from time to time, garbage dumped sites within the City have not been moved to outside the city. Even the present sites are hardly looked after and the stench from these turns afoul the air of the surrounding residential areas. People of these localities have been desperately seeking deliverance from the odor and the filthy sights (Salequzzaman et al. 1998). In a majority of the urban centers, waste is being disposed of by depositing the same in low-lying areas. The disposal sites are selected on the basis of their closeness to the collection areas and new disposal sites are normally identified only when the existing ones are completely filled. In most cases, the waste is simply dumped at such sites and, except in the metropolitan cities, bulldozers are rarely used for compaction at the disposal site. Even in these cities, they are used only for leveling of the deposited waste. The incoming SW vehicles are not weighed and no specific plan is followed while filling the dumpsites. Provisions for leachate and gas control do not exist. A soil cover is rarely provided, except at the time of closure of the site. Most of the disposal sites are unfenced and the waste picking is commonly in vogue, posing problems in the operation of the sites. Open firing of MSW at disposal sites is most common, for reducing the volume of wastes and also for easy rag-picking (Luis et al 1997). 7. Proposed National Plan for Mswm Considering the present status of MSWM in the country, the researchers has summarized in a flow chart as depicted in Figure 3, the elements of MSWM for Bangladesh. Some of the important recommendations are: Based on throwing wastes on streets a levy of administrative charges can be imposed of from those who litter the streets. Segregation of wastes at source to identify the recyclable wastes. Doorstep collection of wastes. Sweeping streets on all days of the year. Work norms for sweeping of streets so that no wastes are seen piled up in the road corner specifically in market places. Provision of litter bins at public places. Abolition of open waste storage sites and collection so that the leachate cant contaminate the air. Conversion of organic wastes into compost. Upgradation of existing dumpsites. Siting, construction and operation of sanitary landfills. Institutional strengthening and capacity building. NGO participation in SWM practices. Adequate personnel should be sanctioned according to the growth rate of urbanization. Public awareness strategy. Financial strengthening of local bodies. 8. Conclusion: The explosion in world population is changing the nature of solid waste management from mainly a low priority, localized issue to an internationally pervasive social problem. Risk to the public health and environment due to solid waste in large metropolitan areas are becoming intolerable. The paper has summarized the salient features of the current scenario of MSWM in Chittagong, Bangladesh and the future directions for improving the situation. Chittagong, Bangladesh currently is facing a municipal solid waste dilemma, for which all elements of the society are responsible. The community sensitization and public awareness is low. There is no system of segregation of organic, inorganic and recyclable wastes at household level. There is an adequate legal framework existing in the country to address MSWM, what is causing its implementation. In spite of a stringent legislation in place, open dumping is the most wide spread form of waste disposal. The possible reasons for poor implementation could be a combination of social, technical, institutional and financial issues. Public awareness, political will and public participation are essential for the successful implementation of the legal provisions and to have an integrated approach towards sustainable management of municipal solid wastes in the country. K References: 1. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (1997). Bangladesh Population Census 1991, Urban Area Report. Dhaka: Statistics Division, Ministry of Planning, and Government of Bangladesh. 2. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) (2001) Population census 2001, Preliminary Report Dhaka: Statistical division, Ministry of Planning. 3. Chittagong City Corporation Report 2006 4. Chittagong City Corporation Report - 2004 5. Cairncross, S. and Feachem, R.G. (1993) Environmental Health Engineering in the Tropics: An introductory text, 2 nd edition, John Wiley & Sons, UK. 6. Human Development Reports, UNDP, 2004 7. IFRD and BCSIR (1998) Refuse Quality Assessment of Dhaka City Corporations for Waste to Electrical Energy Project, The World Bank, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, GOB, Dhaka, Bangladesh. 8. Luis F. Diaz, George M. Savage and Linda L.Eggerth (1997), "Managing SolidWastes in developing Countries" Journal of Waste Management, October 1997, pp 43- 45. 9. National Institute of Local Government and Local Government Engineering Department, (2002), Pourashava Statistical Yearbook of Bangladesh, 1998-99, NILG, Dhaka. 10. Salequzzaman, M., Murtaza, M.G. and Saroar, M. (1998) Evaluation study on Municipal Solid Waste Management, Project in Khulna City, PRODIPAN, Shaheb Bari Road, Khulna 9203, Bangladesh. 11. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Chittagong # People_and_ culture 12. Tchobanoglous G, Hilary Theisen, Samuel A. Vigil (1993) "Integrated Solid waste Management - Engineering Principles and Management Issues", McGraw Hill International Edition. 13. Yousuf T. B., (1996) Sustainability of Solid Waste Management System of Dhaka City Corporation, A Masters Thesis, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka. Figure 2: Existing Municipal Solid waste management System Figure 3: Proposed flow chart of Municipal solid waste in Bangladesh
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