Assignment

Status of solid waste in Chittagong City Corporation and possible

management

Name and ID
Hafez Ahmad ID: 15207021

Subject: Oceanography
Course: OCEAN 306
Marine Environmental Management Practical
Date: 30 /04 / 2019
Department of Oceanography
University of Chittagong

Faculty of Marine Sciences and Fisheries

Table of Contents
Abstract................................................................................................................................................... 2
Introduction............................................................................................................................................. 3
Scopes and objectives of the study ........................................................................................................... 4
Study area ............................................................................................................................................... 4
Methods and materials ............................................................................................................................. 5

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Present status of solid waste and management.......................................................................................... 6
Municipal solid waste (MSW) in Chittagong ........................................................................................... 6
Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM) .......................................................................................... 8
Integrated Sustainable Waste Management (ISWM) ................................................................................ 8
Potential appropriate waste management technologies ........................................................................... 10
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................ 11
Recommendation................................................................................................................................... 11

Abstract
This work studies the main solid waste status and management issues as collection, transfer, processing
and recovery etc. and try to find out the problems and prospects in the Chittagong city corporation. The
increased amount of waste generation resulting from urbanization, population growth and improved life-
style is a major concern for many developing countries like Bangladesh. Apparently, it is not possible to
remove all the solid waste, but it is possible to reduce the bad effect of solid waste by an improved waste
management system with public-private partnership. . This review has showed valuable information
regarding potential waste management techniques that could be used as part of an effective integrated
waste management system for Chittagong. This research provides an initial set of information which
will be complemented with further investigations.

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Introduction
Solid waste means any garbage, refuse, sludge from a wastewater treatment plant, water supply treatment
plant, or air pollution control facility and other discarded materials including solid, liquid, semi-solid, or
contained gaseous material, resulting from industrial, commercial, mining and agricultural operations, and
from community activities, but does not include solid or dissolved materials in domestic sewage, or solid
or dissolved materials in irrigation return flows or industrial discharges.

65% proteins

25%
carbohydrate
70% organic
10% fats

other
Domestics organics
Solids waste
Grits

30%
salts
inorganic

metals

Figure 1 : Domestics Solid Waste composition [1]

The composition of municipal solid waste varies greatly from municipality to municipality, and it changes
significantly with time. In municipalities which have a well-developed waste recycling system, the waste
stream mainly consists of intractable wastes such as plastic film and non-recyclable packaging materials.
In developed areas without significant recycling activity it predominantly includes food wastes, market
wastes, yard wastes, plastic containers and product packaging materials, and other miscellaneous solid
wastes from residential, commercial, institutional, and industrial sources. Most definitions of municipal
solid waste do not include industrial wastes, agricultural wastes, medical waste, radioactive waste or sewage
sludge. Waste collection is performed by the municipality within a given area. The term residual waste
relates to waste left from household sources containing materials that have not been separated out or sent
for processing. Waste can be classified in several ways but the following list represents a typical
classification:
1: Biodegradable waste: food and kitchen waste, green waste, paper (most can be recycled although some
difficult to compost plant material may be excluded
2: Recyclable materials: paper, cardboard, glass, bottles, jars, tin cans, aluminum cans, aluminum foil,
metals, certain plastics, fabrics, clothes, tires, batteries, etc.
3: Inert waste: construction and demolition waste, dirt, rocks, debris

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4: Electrical and electronic waste (WEEE) - electrical appliances, light bulbs, washing machines, TVs,
computers, screens, mobile phones, alarm clocks, watches, etc.
5: Composite wastes: waste clothing, Tetra Packs, waste plastics such as toys
6: Hazardous waste including most paints, chemicals, tires, batteries, light bulbs, electrical appliances,
fluorescent lamps, aerosol spray cans, and fertilizers
7: Toxic waste including pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides
Biomedical waste, expired pharmaceutical drugs, etc.

Scopes and objectives of the study

The objectives are set as follows
1): to study the physical characteristics of Chittagong City Corporation waste.
2: to find out point and nonpoint sources of waste.
3: to evaluate current solid waste management.
.

Study area
Chittagong City Corporation area 160.99 sq. km, located in between 22°13' and 22°27' north latitudes and
in between 91°40' and 91°53' east longitudes. Being established in 1894 Chittagong Municipality was
upgraded to City Corporation in July 1990. The Chittagong City Corporation is the second largest
citycorporation with an area of 168.07 sq. km. According to the 2001 census about 55 percent of the
population is male with Literacy rate (more than 7 years old) 65% according to the 2001.[1]The City
Corporation consists of 11 thanas namely BaKalia, BaijidBostami, Halishahar, Khulshi, Chittagong
port, Pahartoli, Double Mooring, Kotwali, Panchlaish, Chadgaon, and the Hathazari and 207 mahallas
containing 41 wards. There are 389 educational institute, 110 clinics/hospitals, 38 playgrounds, 55 public
toilet, 12 cinema halls, 76 community centers, 6 dakbunglows, and 52 post offices in this city
corporation. It is bounded by sitakunda, hathazari and raozan upazilas on the north, anowara upazila on the
south, Raozan and boalkhali upazilas on the east, Sitakunda upazila and Bay of Bengal on the west.

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 Figure 2 : Chittagong City Corporation

Methods and materials

Data from different sources were utilized in the study. This report is based on secondary data collected in
April, 2019. The study was conducted in a major city corporations of Bangladesh. Chittagong, the
commercial capital of the country. There are 41 wards2 in Chittagong City. Sweepers and garbage truck
drivers are key actors of conservancy service delivery in Bangladesh. Sweepers and garbage truck drivers
are key information provider for this study in Chittagong. In order to get access to information from them,
they were regularly visited on a random basis in their workplace; on streets and at disposal sites. Ten of
them were interviewed and accompanied to their ghettos, and time was spent with them listening to their
problems at work as well as discussing .Two service users, selected randomly, were also interviewed by
using the same tool. All discussions, observations and interviews were transcribed in daily notebook and
annotated with comments where applicable, and then carefully preserved for reference. This paper largely
benefits from wide-ranging set of field notes, and thus building its data core.
Secondary data have been collected to substantiate the primary data and are mainly derived from the
analysis and review of relevant academic articles and books, newspapers/magazines reports and previous
studies. Admittedly, the limited access to official documents, because the Official Secrets Act of 1923 and
the

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Government Servants Conduct Rules of 1979, bind bureaucrats to an oath of secrecy even forbidding them
to provide official information to other government departments unless empowered by the government (The
World Bank, 1996).

Present status of solid waste and management

Sources of solid wastes are in general related to land use and zoning. Although any number of source
classifications can be developed, the following categories have been found useful-
1. Residential 3. Municipal
2. Commercial 4. Industrial
5. Open areas 6. Agricultural
7. Treatment plants 8. Hospitals
A total of 2859 officers, other staff and workers are engaged Solid Water Management in CCC - 2060 in
conservancy section, 200 drivers working in mechanical engineering section, 73 in mechanical workshop,
26 in compost plant, 500 under civil engineering section for cleaning of large drains.

Municipal solid waste (MSW) in Chittagong

Management Amount of waste ton per day Percentage

Compositing 6 0.44
Recycling 6.1 0.45
Landfilling 1344.9 99

Chittagong face operational challenges such as the lack/misuse of resources,

1: corruption,
2: political interference,
3: central-local government relationship,
4: lack of inter-departmental coordination
5: lack of people’s awareness

Solid waste management (SWM) is an integral part of an environmental management system. SWM
approaches are being modified to make SWM more practical and effective based on environmental
regulations and to establish sustainability based on the “reduce”, “reuse”, and “recycle” (3R) principles.
This review provides a wide-ranging overview of existing SWM strategies with the following key
objectives: (i) to comprehensively describe current technologies, strategic innovations, and monitoring
tools, (ii) to provide an overview of prevailing waste management scenarios across different countries, (iii)
to identify the roles of life cycle assessment (LCA) and other modeling tools in SWM, and (iv) to showcase
feasible approaches for sustainable recycling and utilization of solid wastes. The current review finds that
geographical positions and economic status of nations largely are important to dictate waste

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characteristics[2].Solid Waste Management is defined as the discipline associated with control of
generation, storage, collection, transport or transfer, processing and disposal of solid waste materials in a
way that best addresses the range of public health, conservation, economics, aesthetic, engineering and
other environmental considerations. Solid waste management includes planning, administrative, financial,
engineering and legal functions. Solutions might include complex inter-disciplinary relations among fields
such as public health, city and regional planning, political science, geography, sociology, economics,
communication and conservation, demography, engineering and material sciences. Solid waste
management practices can differ for residential and industrial producers, for urban and rural areas, and for
developed and developing nations. The administration of non-hazardous waste in metropolitan areas is the
job of local government authorities. On the other hand, the management of hazardous waste materials is
typically the job of the generator, subject to local, national and even international authorities. Functional
Elements of the Waste Management System

Figure 3 . Solid waste management hierarchy.

There are six functional components of the waste management system as outlined below:
1: Waste generation refers to activities involved in identifying materials which are no longer usable and are
either gathered for systematic disposal or thrown away.
2: Onsite handling, storage, and processing are the activities at the point of waste generation which facilitate
easier collection. For example, waste bins are placed at the sites which generate sufficient waste.
3: Waste collection, a crucial phase of waste management, includes activities such as placing waste
collection bins, collecting waste from those bins and accumulating trash in the location where the collection
vehicles are emptied. Although the collection phase involves transportation, this is typically not the main
stage of waste transportation.
4: Waste transfer and transport are the activities involved in moving waste from the local waste collection
locations to the regional waste disposal site in large waste transport vehicles.

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5: Waste processing and recovery refer to the facilities, equipment, and techniques employed both to
recover reusable or recyclable materials from the waste stream and to improve the effectiveness of other
functional elements of waste management.
6: Disposal is the final stage of waste management. It involves the activities aimed at the systematic disposal
of waste materials in locations such as landfills or waste-to-energy facilities.

Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM)

Integrated solid waste management refers to the strategic approach to sustainable management of solid
wastes covering all sources and all aspects, covering generation, segregation, transfer, sorting, treatment,
recovery and disposal in an integrated manner, with an emphasis on maximizing resource use efficiency.

Figure : integrated solid waste management

Integrated Sustainable Waste Management (ISWM)

The core concept of Integrated Sustainable Waste Management (ISWM) has been developed out of
experience, to address certain common problems with municipal waste management in low-and middle-
income countries in the South, and also in countries in transition. ISWM recognizes three important
dimensions in waste management: (1) stakeholders, (2) waste system elements and (3) sustainability
aspects. The waste management hierarchy – a policy guideline that is part of many national environmental
laws and policies – is also a cornerstone of the ISWM approach.

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Figure 4 : Integrated solid waste management (ISWM) framework[3].
The 'Stakeholders'
A stakeholder is a person or an organization that has a stake, an interest in –in this case– waste management.
The municipality, with its general responsibility for urban cleanliness and the citizens or households who
use the system, are (almost) always stakeholders in waste management. In addition, the stakeholders in a
particular city or region share a common social and geographic context and may be bound together by other
systems in addition to solid waste.
The 'Elements'
All waste system elements should be looked upon as being stages in the movement, or flow, of materials
from the mining stage, via processing, production and consumption stage towards final treatment and
disposal. ISWM recognizes the high-profile elements ‘collection’, ‘transfer’ and ‘disposal’ or ‘treatment’.
It gives equal weight to the less well understood elements of ‘waste minimization’, ‘reuse’ and ‘recycling
and composting’. The history and character of the locality influence which system elements are present and
which are absent or under-developed.
The 'Aspects'
The ISWM concept distinguishes six aspects, or lenses, through which the existing waste system can be
assessed and with which a new or expanded system can be planned. The six aspects of ISWM are described
below:
1. Financial-economic aspects pertain to budgeting and cost accounting within the waste management
system and in relation to the local, regional, national and international economy. Efficiency of municipal

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solid waste management systems; macroeconomic dimensions of resource use and conservation; and
income generation.
2. Environmental aspects focus on the effects of waste management on land, water and air; on the need for
conservation of nonrenewable resources; pollution control and public health concerns.
3. Political/legal aspects address the boundary conditions in which the waste management system exists:
setting goals and priorities; determination of roles and jurisdiction; the existing or planned legal and
regulatory framework; and the basic decision-making processes.
4. Institutional aspects relate to the political and social structures which control and implement waste
management: the distribution of functions and responsibilities. Planning is often considered the principal
activity in relation with institutional and organizational aspects.
5. Socio-cultural aspects include the influence of culture on waste generation and management in the
household and in businesses and institutions; the community and its involvement in waste management; the
relations between groups and communities, between people of various age, sex, ethnicity and the social
conditions of waste workers.

Potential appropriate waste management technologies

From the information in the above subsections, some comments can be made concerning appropriate
technologies and limitations for MSW management in Chittagong. These are outlined below:
Biodegradation techniques Technologies such as biogas production and composting are technically
viable options for Chittagong due to the high organic content of its MSW. Small-scale composting plants
or integrated composting technology could be taken into consideration.
Incineration needs to be carefully considered as the waste is characterized by high moisture content and
energy recovery is therefore expected to be much less. High capital investment, operating and
maintenance costs are issues that need also to be taken into account. However, adaptation of this
technology to local conditions taking account of the MSW characteristics is imperative.
Recycling/reuse
The use of mechanical processes to recover recyclable products such as paper, glass, plastic, or metal may
not be economical when fairly low proportions of recyclables are produced. However, looking at the
average composition of MSW in Chittagong, and more particularly the recyclable fractions, it can
be seen that high amount of paper and plastic are produced. As Bangladesh is engaged in a process of
economic and urban development, the composition of its MSW is very likely to change.
Consequently, an increase in the amount of packaging waste should be expected for Chittagong as
a result of two factors: tourism activities and raise in the living standards. Separate collection of
biodegradable and non-biodegradable products should therefore be promoted. It would contribute to
increased recycling of specific waste items like paper, plastic or metals. Separation of recyclables by
households is however still limited. As more than 80% of the solid waste is produced by households,
recycling at source should be encouraged as it would contribute to a substantial increase in waste
recycling and consequently contribute to reduce the amount of solid waste disposed to landfill. This would
also be a source of income for the households.

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Conclusion
The analyses of the preliminary investigations on MSW at Chittagong have shown the dependence
of waste characteristics . This review has showed valuable information regarding potential waste
management techniques that could be used as part of an effective integrated waste management system
for Chittagong. This research provides an initial set of information which will be complemented with
further investigations. These will include: (1) surveying various sources of waste generation
including private residences, hotels and condominiums, restaurants, schools and universities,
hospitals and temples; (2) waste dealers - informal and formal sectors; and (3) public behavior
regarding waste with special focus on gender issues. In order to ensure successful implementation
of a MSW management strategy, effective involvement of various stakeholders is required.
Although, the role and the importance of government or municipality is unquestionable,
participation of neighborhood associations, local NGOs, communities, and private and informal
sectors (involved in various stages of the waste stream) in an integrated manner through different
operational steps of the MSW system, is essential. To this end, stakeholder workshops including
municipal authorities, people from waste generation and management sectors, and waste management
experts will be organized to disseminate the results of the preliminary investigations to seek their opinions.
Thus, this activity intends to promote public awareness and involvement in decision making. Based on
the outcome of workshops, a workable integrated waste management scheme will be proposed. The
methodological approach developed thereby could then serve as a model for strategic planning of waste
management in similar locations in the region.

Recommendation
1: Create a comprehensive Zero Waste Action Plan.
2: Strengthen institutions and focus on political commitment, not technology.
3: Build capacities for management, consultation, listening, and information exchange.
4: Develop resources to promote free-cycle and re-use networks .
5: Measure and track the actual amounts of waste being collected and dumped.
6: Educate the public on recyclable material processing and eco-conscious purchasing practices.
7: Create and support national solid waste and recycling platforms.
8: Work towards the end of waste.
Reference
[1] A. Kumar and S. R. Samadder, “A review on technological options of waste to energy for
effective management of municipal solid waste,” Waste Manag., vol. 69, pp. 407–422, 2017.
[2] S. Das, S.-H. Lee, P. Kumar, K.-H. Kim, S. S. Lee, and S. S. Bhattacharya, “Solid waste
management: Scope and the challenge of sustainability,” J. Clean. Prod., 2019.
[3] M. Oteng-Ababio, R. Annepu, A. C. ‘Thanos’ Bourtsalas, R. Intharathirat, S. Charoenkit, and N.
Kennard, “Urban Solid Waste Management,” Clim. Chang. Cities, pp. 553–582, 2018.

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