The amount of municipal solid waste in Bangladesh has increased by years since 1991. The data of the urban solid waste in the whole country has increased to 13,330 tons from 6,493 tons in 1991. In 2014, the number rose to 23,688 tons. It is predicted that there will be a population of 78,440,000 in Bangladesh in 2025 and 47,000 tons of solid waste will be generated every day. So it is obvious that there’s a direct connection between the increase of population and the amount of waste.

As a country which has more people and fewer lands, looking for new landfills turns harder and harder for the waste management authorities. The reason why Dacca is one of the cities which has the worst living conditions in the world lies in that the current solid waste management method cannot satisfy the real need of the city.

Components of Solid Waste in Bangladesh

Kitchen waste and green waste– 67.65%

Stones, ashes and dust, etc–8.97%

Waste paper– 9.73%

Plastic, leather and rubber–5.10%

Wood, grass and leaves–4.2%

Cloth and fabric–2.5%

Glass and ceramic–1.13%

Metal–0.64%

Medical waste–0.28%

Among the solid waste, organism covers more than 70% of the total amount of waste. Therefore, the water content of the solid waste in Bangladesh is quite high (＞50%), which the heat value is low (＜1000kcal/kg).

So far, the waste collection rate of the main cities in Bangladesh is between 44.3% and 76.47%. The main typical way of the municipal solid waste disposal is simply dumping the waste in some uncontrollable landfills. Thereinto, Dacca is an exception because it is the only city in Bangladesh which has a sanitary landfill. What’s worse, there’s also not any special disposal method for those hazardous waste.

Find a Way to Do Effective Solid Waste Management in Bangladesh

In fact, with a scientific management way of the solid waste, 69% to 77% of the whole amount of the waste in Dacca can be recycled effectively. Because of the high organic principle in solid waste, the waste needs to be collected and transported out on time. At the same time, residents in cities play an important role. A more strict regulation about garbage classification and separation need to be implemented.

What’s more, the authorities need to encourage and provide additional support to the private waste recycling organizations. If possible, they need to set up some high-efficiency waste segregation systems to help with the waste sorting and improve the recovery rate of the municipal solid waste in Bangladesh.

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