Practical Approach to Increase the Level of Peoples' Awareness and Collection of Municipal Solid Waste

Abstract

Due to inadequate waste management related infrastructures, lack of peoples' awareness, motivation and participation, severe financial constraints, absence of appropriate and sustainable technology and ineffective legislation and law enforcement Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) remains unmanageable in most of the cities of Least Developed Asian Countries including Bangladesh and possesses threat to city dwellers, stakeholders and creates new issues to planners and city management authority. The primary but most important steps in the waste management hierarchy are to store the wastes in a designated place by any means, ensure primary waste collection from the sources and public awareness about improvement of solid waste management. This study focuses on the decisive evaluation of the existing system and level of source storage, primary collection and city dwellers awareness and perception of MSW management at Ward No. 24 of Khulna City Corporation (KCC) of Bangladesh. It occupies an area of 161.05 hectares with a total population of 52,624. Waste generation rate in study area varies from 0.28 to 0.47kg/cap/day, which amounted as 15 to 25ton/day. Moreover, due to lack of motivation, awareness and commitment, a considerable portion of waste, 30-35%, are not properly stored, collected or disposed in designated places for ultimate disposal. By extensive data collection, it has been observed that only 53-54% of total generation of waste is collected and disposed per day by KCC. Rest of the waste remains uncollected thus creates unhealthy environment all around such as bad odor, soiled street and aesthetically problem. Several practical steps have been undertaken in this ward to improve the level of people's awareness and collection systems such as stakeholders' dialogue, mass awareness rally, commitment signature, distribution of awareness leaflet, children art competition, door-to-door campaign, installation of festoon, introduction of newly designed Rickshaw Van. A statistical analysis is also carried out to analyze people's attitude and investigate the actual scenario of the study area. The percentages of door-to-door, self disposal and open dumping practices were 9.5 to 70.1, 17.0 to 70.0 and 9.0 to 29.6, respectively. With this situation almost 50% of people was quite satisfy with the existing MSW practices where the rest percentages expressed their dissatisfaction. Due to all these taken initiatives, collection efficiencies changes to 20.0 to 80.0, 9.41 to 40.0 and 12.0 to 49.33, respectively in terms of door-to-door, self disposal and open dumping practices. With this collection efficiency percentages of people's satisfaction and dissatisfaction changes to 67% and 33%, respectively. However it is difficult to identify the actual situations which are positively related to different influence factors such as public attitudes; habits and customs of living; economic conditions and standards of living etc., which are changes with time and preference In the context of Bangladesh, the findings are beneficial for any responsible authority or concerned stakeholders who are interested for development of an effective sustainable solution of MSW. To get real achievement in any implemented system, all the necessary components should be accomplished with great care in an integrated and sustainable way.