Assessment of Solid Waste Management System in Pakistan and Sustainable Model from Environmental and Economic Perspective

Abstract

The Solid Waste Management (SWM) sector is given a low-priority by the Pakistani Government, with the climate change agenda of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) being a priority-3 only, similar to other developing countries. Although sustained efforts have been made during the last decade to strengthen the SWM sector, all actions were focused on manual sweeping and waste collection without integrating waste treatment and disposal options. In this respect, the current model of SWM in the country was analyzed for efficient future planning to strengthen the sector waste management regime in line with the targets of Nationally Determined Contributors (NDCs) and SDGs. An assessment of the SWM sector was performed in eleven major cities of Pakistan, applying Waste-aware benchmarking indicators as strategic tools. The current study highlights the strengths and weaknesses of concerned local municipalities and Waste Management Companies (WMCs) along with interventions to reduce Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) emission targets by 2030. Proposed interventions from the environment and economy perspective will generate revenue to cater for up to 29% of the operational costs, and this will be an important step towards 100% self-sufficiency in the SWM sector.

Municipal Solid Waste Collection and Haulage Modeling Design for Lahore, Pakistan: Transition toward Sustainability and Circular Economy

“…The proposed interventions will ensure sustainability and serve as a step toward integrating the waste sector into the circular economy [62] (Figure 4). The economic analysis of the proposed waste treatment options is performed in Pakistani Rupees (PKR) per ton by considering Equations ( 1)-( 7) described in the economic modeling [20]. The economic value of biogas generation from anaerobic digestion (AD) is determined via Equation (71).…”

“…A centralized MRF will facilitate the segregation of organic waste for composting and anaerobic digestion and will also help recover the recyclables, i.e., plastic, paper and cardboard, glass and metal. The detail of the costs (PKR) of operating the facility per day and ton [20] is depicted in Figure 23a,b, respectively, and the same summary is given in Figure 24a. A centralized MRF will facilitate the segregation of organic waste for composting and anaerobic digestion and will also help recover the recyclables, i.e., plastic, paper and cardboard, glass and metal.…”

“…The informal waste sector is active in Karachi, with a 26% recovery of recyclables. The average per ton waste collection cost for urban areas in the country is PKR 4794 [20]. All metropolitan cities are facing severe waste concerns, and heaps are found scattered alongside roads and streets due to a lack of urban planning, public education and poor infrastructure of SWM.…”

“…The model will also guide the politicians to invest and focus on local capacity building of municipalities [17] rather than outsourcing waste collection services as a lesson learned from international outsourcing of SWM services in Lahore, Rawalpindi and Karachi. The local market's capacity has now developed to provide the appropriate equipment and machinery required to perform waste collection and haulage services [20]. Therefore, involving the private sector in waste treatment and disposal functions based on the PPP modality is more relevant for enhancing the local capacity for environmental sustainability [42,43].…”

“…Now, it is time to strengthen and sustain the SWM sector in Pakistan by adopting methodologies compatible with the local market and citizens' desires. However, unfortunately, the waste collection efficiency was below 75% in almost all cities in Pakistan, except Lahore [20], where the nature of the waste collected is heterogeneous, without any separate arrangements for collection streams. Now, it is time to strengthen and sustain the SWM sector in Pakistan by adopting methodologies compatible with the local market and citizens' desires.…”