Open AccessWASTE TO WEALTH: A CASE STUDY, ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN
Author(s) -
Ghulam Sarwar Sandhu,
Abdul Waheed
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
xi'nan jiaotong daxue xuebao
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.308
H-Index - 21
ISSN - 0258-2724
DOI - 10.35741/issn.0258-2724.56.6.90
Subject(s) - municipal solid waste , waste collection , per capita , revenue , business , waste management , waste disposal , agricultural economics , environmental planning , environmental science , engineering , economics , population , finance , demography , sociology
This research aims to explore the potential of revenue generation and job creation from the trash. Research methodology in this study includes a semi-structured questionnaire survey, interviews with representatives of the Capital Development Authority, experts from the field and academia, scavengers, and a wide-ranging literature review. Islamabad generates approx. 2830 tons of municipal waste daily at an average rate of 1.0 kg/capita/day. Municipal solid waste contains 79% wet and inorganic recoverable material mixed with irrecoverable waste items and ultimately buried at the disposal site. Although the literacy rate in Islamabad is the highest in the country, public awareness regarding the impacts of improper waste management and benefits of appropriate waste management like revenue generation, job creation, and health does not exist. Existing waste management includes mixed waste storage at source and waste transfer stations, collection and transportation, and mixed waste dumping or burning. There is no institutional arrangement to recover above 2200 tons of recoverable materials a day from source to destination. In the informal sector, 10 percent of 79% of recyclables are recovered daily by waste pickers from streets, waste transfer stations, and waste disposal sites. Municipality in Islamabad has no policy regarding at source waste segregation, separate waste storage, collection, transportation, and restrictions on mixed waste disposal. This research would suggest measures for tapping the potential of resource generation and transformation of waste to wealth in Islamabad.