National University Of Modern Languages

BS AREA STUDIES (CHINA)

TOPIC: Solid Waste Management in Pakistan

REVIEW QUESTIONS:

1.What are the problems Pakistan is facing in waste management?

Goals/Aims :

➢This article covers the problem Pakistan is facing in solid waste management. Through
this article we can highlight serious problems that indicate poor dumping, negligence
of public awareness and political will. The research aims to find valuable solutions.

Objectives:
➢This study will help to find out :
1.The challenges and ultimate solution of solid waste management in Pakistan.
2.Better planning is now a need to avoid these problems in future.
3.Focus on public awareness and policy making.

Literature Review:
Material that is abandoned that is undesired is called waste, sometimes known as garbage or
Junk . In developed states, mountains of trash are transported to landfills. But in
underdeveloped nations, rubbish typically ends up on roadsides and vacant areas. Waste
that has never been processed causes environmental harm and costs locals money.
Authorities' views on disposal have changed as a result of rising pollution that is
producing environmental changes and harmful effects on infrastructure, and waste-
related economic costs. Despite the fact that waste management is a recent
phenomenon, it has caught the attention of governments all over the world. The globe
produces almost 4 billion tons of trash annually, of which 1.2 billion tons is municipal
waste. Only 1 billion tons are utilized, according to a calculation. In order to produce
170 million tons of paper, 405 million tons of ferrous scrap, 25 million tons of non-
ferrous scrap, and 5 million tons of plastics, 600 million tons of garbage need to be
recycled. There are multiple ways to treat waste, including recycling, burning, and
burying. Global practices aim to either transform garbage into energy, fertilizer, or
recycle it for later use. Many of the developed countries are generating power from
waste through incineration plants which produce more energy than the world's wind
turbines solar panel projects .The management of garbage and its economic worth has
also been a concern for developing nations, despite its delays (Z., 2009).Pakistan falls
behind most countries in terms of rubbish collection. Without clear guidelines for the
collection and disposal of garbage, according to the waste management data, just 50%
of hazardous trash is properly disposed of in various places around the country.
However, in order to preserve cleanliness and encourage sustainable living, 75% of
generated junk should be collected and disposed of (M. T. , 2021). To manage the
waste is difficult for Pakistan as it generates 30 million tons of waste. Annually with an
yearly increase of 2.4%.Local and municipal governments are having the charge of
collecting waste from major cities of Pakistan but the attention is not giving properly to
all the communities as the developed areas are having more attention than the remote
areas which causes health issues in resultant to children's death (Waste Management,
2022)According to statistics report 60% waste is collected from cities and 30 to 50% is
neglected by authorities. Waste in Pakistan mostly comprises household, commercial,
institutional, hospital, construction based, agricultural and industrial disposals (Z.,
2009)..Primary collection of waste is through donkey carts and then open truck and
trolley system for secondary collection of dump which is then transported .Mostly
municipalities heir sweepers and sanitary workers for cleaning of the streets
temporarily disposal of waste before it is collected by authorities (Waste Management,
2022).The generated waste is not collected properly but mostly by scavengers who
separate it based on their own interests before bringing it to disposal locations. The
reason that Pakistan is facing this problem diversely is because it has mass population;
due to this it lies sixth in the world. There are no enough facilities in Pakistan to
manage his waste .Our society has economic ,cultural, legislative issues .The common
highlighted problems are failure of collection system dumping of waste on streets ,road
sides and canals .General public is unaware regarding proper disposal of waste and the
resulting health problems with it. Open ground dumping and open burning of waste
makes the life of near residents a difficult one. Improper disposal of waste cause
serious health issues and breeding of mosquito’s flies and rodents. Health and
environmental problems are becoming serious for the society (R., 2022). Studies
indicated that major cities of Pakistan among which Karachi generates 16500 tons of
municipal waste daily, whereas Lahore generates 7,690 tons, Faisalabad 5,017 tons,
 Rawalpindi 4,500 tons, Peshawar 2,048 tons and Quetta 716 tons. Lack of machinery,
infrastructure ,technology and un implementation of already existing environment and
climate policies ,negligence of citizens towards their duties are the current problems in
which Pakistan is lagging. (M. K. , 2022)

Research Methodology:
Solid waste management in Pakistan is not well managed .There are many issues that need
to be addressed. Waste generally includes plastic, paper, organic , ,hospital industrial
waste and many other kinds of waste which is not separated by scavengers or the
municipal waste management .We are having lack of machinery for collecting waste as
we are lagging in up to date machinery .Our cities also don’t have better infrastructure
that’s why mostly problem comes from such type of causes .In all the cities of Pakistan
there is no proper waste dumping sides at where the citizens should dispose their
waste. Our citizens don’t have proper awareness regarding the proper disposal of waste
as mostly cases can be seen as the open dumping of waste which mainly contributes to
land pollution. Solid waste is not a problem for humans and the society but it’s also a
major threat to our environment as it cause air pollution, water pollution, land pollution
etc. Open ground dumping of waste leads to land pollution ,open burning of waste leads
to air pollution and spreading of waste in rivers ,streams and lakes leads to water
pollution. Waste remain in waster for a longer time leads to water pollution and also
cause health issues as such as the spread of dengue, more production of mites , rodents
and flies. Bad odors also produce from this issue which makes the life of near resident
difficult. Moreover our government is not taking efficient steps to handle it as they
always neglect this major problem. This issue is mostly seen in the case of major cities
of Pakistan such as Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Karachi and Lahore. Each city is a level
above compare to each other. The common problems are above mentioned. The main
reason that why cities are having such type of problem is the urbanization .People are
moving towards cities and cities having burden as there is no enough space for more
population. High density of population is directly related to mass production of waste.

Pakistan: Physical Composition of MSW by Percent

Pakistan.

The above figure shows the composition of physical municipal waste by percent.

Solid waste genera-

Karachi 20,500,000 16,500

Lahore 10,000,000 7,690

Rawalpindi 5,900,000 4,500

Islamabad 1.019 2830

The above table shows the waste generated in major cities in comparison with their

population. In Rawalpindi city,problem comes in unplanned structur of cities,improper

resources and lack of fund ,industrilisation ,urbanization and not regulaqr collection of waste

from all community area.Heavy waste disposed trucks often damaged the road due to their

heavy weight.In Islamabad, rural areas are always neglected from CDA and ICT as they both

don’t want to take the responsibility and claim for having no adequate funds. Survey

conclude that people living near dumpinfg sites have 13%diarrhoea,20% malaria,13%

cholera, 6%skin ,9%asthama,6%typhoid and 2%fatigue health issues.Collection of sharp

objects by scavengers directly pose serious health issues.In Karachi and Lahore,we can see

that many MOUs have been signed with with different companies as they made many

promises but failed to deliver because of political conflicts and their own interest and some

are also engaged in NAB cases.In all the cities sitting government not seem to be interested
as problem exists in all stages.