Monitoring quantity and characteristics of municipal solid waste in Dhaka City

A reliable estimate of the quantity of solid waste generation in the city is very important for proper solid waste planning and management. However, reported estimates of solid waste generation vary widely and lead to questionability. The reported values have been derived on the assumption of demography, standard rate of waste generation by households, density values, number of trucks engaged for waste transportation and monitoring of truck movement at dump sites, etc. This diverse nature of the available data and the question of accuracy necessitate a rigorous study that has tried to document the waste quantity in the recently formulated master plan of Dhaka City. The socio-economic parameters, behavioral characteristics, generation sources, seasonality, and per capita growth rate are considered in estimating the waste quantity along with its future projections. The findings from the estimation of waste quantities state that seasonal differences in the municipal solid waste stream are not substantial. The most seasonably variable material in the municipal solid waste stream is food waste. Residential waste is relatively homogeneous. Although there are some differences in waste generation depending on demographic and other local factors, most households dispose of essentially similar types of wastes. Variation occurs in waste composition dependent upon income levels and category of sources. Variation also occurs based upon the extent of source reduction and recycling opportunities. As opportunities exist to recycle wastes, the recycling facilities might have to grow at a similar pace to the generation of waste. Physical and chemical characteristics of solid waste are important to implement the waste disposal and management plan for the selection of resource and energy recovery potentials. A number of studies have been conducted to determine the composition of wastes including moisture content and calorific value. The data show that the moisture content in city waste is significantly higher and the calorific value is much lower, which determines the viability of composting or anaerobic digestions rather than waste combustion.