JUNE 1998

Solid Waste Management in Bangladesh: A Case Study of a Community-based Approach

by

Professor Badiul Alam Majumdar
Country Director
The Hunger Project, Bangladesh

1. Introduction

Almost all, if not all, human activities lead to the generation of waste. Human living and the creation of waste, both solid and liquid, go hand in hand. In fact, waste is an essential by-product, or the necessary evil, of everyday human living. Thus, the idea of eliminating waste all together is an impractical proposition--what is realistic is the management of it in an effective manner. Human well being depends on such effective management involving the collection, transfer, recycling, resource recovery and ultimate disposal of waste.

This paper studies a new, innovative approach to solid waste management in Bangladesh. The effective management of solid waste has become a monumental challenge in Bangladesh--a country with a population density which is among the highest in the world, and a country which is also experiencing the problems of rapid urbanization. The paper examines how a community in Dhaka city was brought together by an animator-volunteer of The Hunger Project, an international voluntary organization, to deal with the burgeoning problem of solid waste. The novelty of the approach lies in that those who are facing the problem devised the solution for it themselves.

The paper begins by bringing into focus the seriousness of the issue of solid waste management in Dhaka city. It then describes the prevailing system, as employed by the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC), to deal with this growing problem. Next, it presents the workings of a community-based experiment to manage solid waste in Dhaka city and examines the effectiveness of the experiment. The paper concludes by drawing some implications from the study.

This is a case study, and as such it is based on extensive field visits and interviews with many individuals directly or indirectly involved with the project. In addition to reviewing the existing literature on solid waste management, especially relating to Dhaka city, we discussed the subject with the relevant DCC officials to get a handle on the existing system employed by the city. We also made numerous visits to the project area and held extensive interviews with the initiators of the community-based experiment. Beyond this, we carried out a survey, using a pre-designed questionnaire. The survey, involving 100 randomly selected households, was designed to assess the views of the community members regarding the effectiveness of the project.

2. Extent of Solid Waste Problem in Bangladesh

2.1 Dimensions of the Problem

Since wastes of all forms are primarily the creation of normal human living, it is to be expected that the more people living in a particular physical space, the more acute will be the problem of waste. With a population density of over 800 people per square kilometer, management of waste, especially solid waste, is a monumental problem for Bangladesh. Rapid population growth will only further accentuate the problem in the future.

The problem of waste is primarily an urban phenomenon. Rapid urbanization and indiscriminate setting up of industries within cities, as is the case in Bangladesh, worsens the problem. About a fourth of Bangladesh’s population of over 120 million currently live in urban areas, which is expected to increase to 46 million in the year 2005 and to 68 million in 2015.(The Independent, January 19, 1998) Of the current urban population of 30 million, nearly a fourth live in the Dhaka city which has an area of 344 square kilometer. Such high concentration of population makes solid waste management a serious problem for the municipal authorities of Dhaka city. The problem will get much more serious when Dhaka becomes a mega city early next century.

Estimates for solid waste generated in Dhaka city vary from 3,000 to 3,500 tons per day. (Shukur and Paul, 1993; Sinha and Enayetullah, 1997) They come from households, commercial and industrial establishments and street sweepings. Households generate most of the solid waste, accounting for nearly 45% of the total.

Table 1 Projected Sources of Solid Waste for 1994-95
Sources	percentage
Domestic	44.2
Commercial	17.7
Industrial	14.7
Street sweeping	23.4
Mott MacDonald et. al., "Waste Management Report," 1992.

The disposal of solid waste generated in Dhaka city is calculated to require 110 hectares of land per year. ((Sinha and Enayetullah, 1997) With further increases in population, the amount of solid waste will also increase proportionately. It is expected that by the year 2015, the total waste generated in Dhaka city will be about 8,000 tons per day, requiring about 292 hectares of land for disposal. (Sinha and Enayetullah, 1997) Bangladesh, a land-scarce country, does not have such physical space.

Only 42% of the solid waste generated in Dhaka city is estimated to be collected by the municipal authorities. (Sinha and Enayetullah, 1996) By some estimates, 50% of the people living within the jurisdiction the DCC make use of dustbins, 20% roads, 20% drains, and the remaining 10% open grounds for disposing off solid waste. (MacDonald et. al., 1992) However, field surveys of two localities, Dhanmondi and Kathalbagan, show that 35.17% of the households deposit waste in dustbins, 41.38% on roads or drain- side, 13.10% on vacant lots, while 6.90% on their own premises. (Yousuf, 1996) Thus, it is clear that much of the solid wastes generated by the residents of Dhaka city remain uncollected and are disposed of indiscriminately.

The indiscriminate disposal of solid waste in public places causes serious environmental hazards and health risks. (Mubarak, 1993; Wadood, 1993) Rotten and decomposed garbage make neighborhoods filthy, foul smelling and unhealthy. Flies, cockroaches and rodents thrive in such filth, and they are the known sources of many diseases. Uncontrolled and open dumping also clog the urban drainage system, cause frequent floods and threaten the contamination of water supply. Thus, the growing problem of solid waste in Dhaka city is posing increasing threats to the health and well being of its residents.

Table 2 Composition of Solid Waste of Dhaka City (Percentage by dry weight)
Types	Residential areas	Commercial areas
Food waste	84.37	79.49
Paper	5.68	7.22
Plastics	1.74	1.48
Clothes	1.83	1.59
Glass, Metal and Construction materials	6.38	10.22
Total	100.00	100.00
Compostable total	84.37	79.49
Non-compostable	13.63	20.51
Source: Ahmed, "Municipal Solid Waste Management," 1993.

2.2 Characteristics of the Waste of Dhaka city

Much of the solid waste generated in Dhaka city consists of organic food remains, accounting for between 80% and 85% of the total. Other types of wastes include paper, plastics, clothes, glass, metal and construction materials. Despite some minor variance, there appears to be a great deal of similarity in the composition of solid wastes generated in residential and commercial areas. Another characteristic to note is that about 20% of the Dhaka city garbage is combustible while 38% is non-combustible. (Shukur and Paul, 1993)

Table 3 Characteristics of Solid Waste of Dhaka City (In percentages)
Characteristics	Disposal site waste	Domestic waste	Market waste
Moisture content	47-55	45.3	53.6
Fixed Residue	53.2-59.7	57.2	55.6
Organic Carbon (C)	-	22.6	25.7
Organic Nitrogen (N)	0.4-0.6	0.41	0.36
Phosphorus (P)	0.0-0.05	0.05	-
Potassium (K)	0.0
Source: Ahmed, "Solid Waste Management," 1993

Not only are much of the solid wastes of Dhaka city made of organic food particles, they also have high moisture contents. Moisture contents of 50-60% is optimum for aerobic composting, and the solid waste generated by the city dwellers are within that range. (Sinha and Enayetullah, 1997) High organic composition of the waste also make it most appropriate for production of biogas and organic fertilizers through a process of anaerobic decomposition. Thus, although the growing volume of solid waste generated poses a serious hazard to the natural environment as well as to the human health, there is ample scope for turning those wastes into resources. The very composition and characteristics of the solid waste point to a solution of the problem. In other words, the burgeoning problem of solid waste of Dhaka city has its own, unique solution, which originates from its very composition and characteristics.

3. Present System of Waste Management in Dhaka City

Managing solid waste has traditionally been the exclusive preserve of the local or municipal governments. The rationale is that such a service enjoys the characteristics of public good--good influencing public welfare and thus should not be left to individual decisions on whether or not to deal with it. Waste management service is viewed to be nonexclusive in nature, meaning that, once it is provided to some portion of a community, it benefits the overall public welfare, not only the residents that specifically receive the service. (Cointreau-Levine, 1994) The service is nonrivaled, meaning that any resident can enjoy the benefit of the service without diminishing the benefit of another. Thus, waste management service has a free rider problem, meaning that it is not feasible to exclude from service those who do not pay, because public cleanliness and disposal of waste are essential to public health and environmental protection. Considering all these characteristics--characteristics relevant to a public good--private offering of solid waste management service is considered to be inefficient.

The local government authorities of Dhaka city, the capital of Bangladesh, have historically been responsible for managing the solid waste generated within the city. The Dhaka Municipality, established in 1864, provided what is called the conservancy service for the city residents. In 1990, the Municipality was up-graded to a City Corporation and the Corporation continues to offer solid waste management service for its 344 square kilometer jurisdiction. The Dhaka Municipal Corporation Ordinance, 1993 provides the legal basis for such service. It must be noted that the Ordinance does not impose any penalty for illegal and uncontrolled disposal of waste or littering of streets.

The conservancy service was traditionally provided by manual laborers called methors. Using bullock carts, methors collected and disposed of mainly human excreta to trenching grounds. In 1983, bullock carts were replaced by motorized vehicles to carry the refuse to dumping grounds. Hand carts are also used for collecting wastes from narrow streets where motorized vehicles cannot ply.

An elaborate system of solid waste management has evolved over time in Dhaka city. The DCC provide movable dustbins made of corrugated sheets and fixed concrete bins all over the city for home and business owners to dump the refuse. A total of 5,000 dustbins are provided by the DCC, of which 3,000 are movable dustbins made of corrugated sheets. The city also employs cleaners who collect the street sweeping and drain silts and deposit those in the nearest bins. Vehicles then take those solid waste to designated landfills. In 1989, a system of nighttime, instead of daytime, collection of refuse was introduced.

The DCC has a large staff and developed an elaborate supportive infrastructure for managing solid waste. It now employs over 5,000 conservancy staff, most of whom are part-timers and another 135 as supervisory staff. With an estimated population of around eight million, the city employs little over half a person per 1,000 resident while 3-6 persons are considered to be necessary for a satisfactory manual system of solid waste management. (UNCH, 1988) The Chief Conservancy Officer heads the collection and disposal activities, which is assisted by a transport department. The supervisory staff uses 47 wireless sets, jeeps and motor cycles for overseeing the work of the cleaners. It uses 184 special trucks and 3,000 hand drawn carts for hauling wastes.

Table 4 DCC’s Relative Efforts at Waste Management
Indicators	DCC	Cities of other developing countries
Cleaners per 1,000 residents	0.62	3-6
percentage of the budget	14-17	20-40
Per capita spending	Tk. 26	Tk. 304-84
Source: Based on Yousuf, 1996

The DCC spends between 14-17% of its budget for solid waste management compared to 20-40% for municipalities in developing countries. (Yousuf, 1996) During 1994-85, it spent about Tk. 205 million or nearly $45 million for waste management while it collected about Tk. 97 million or approximately $22 million as conservancy tax. Given the estimated population of around eight million for the City, the DCC spends about Tk. 26 or little over US 50 cents per person for an entire year for collecting and disposing of solid waste. This is no doubt a very paltry sum.

It must be noted that solid waste management in Dhaka city now encompasses only the collection of wastes from specific locations and the dumping these in designated landfills. Then again, more than half of all solid waste generated remain uncollected, and is strewn on the streets, drains and ditches much to the detriment of the health and well being of the City residents and a clean environment. Furthermore, the present solid waste management system used by the DCC involves no reclamation or resource recovery. There is no effort towards the systematic recycling of waste, except by the street children who extract the readily recyclable material, spreading the refuse around and increasing the health risks and environmental hazards in the process. The present approach considers waste as a nuisance to be handled rather than resource to be recovered and recycled. Thus, the DCC’s existing waste management system is most inadequate, highly unsatisfactory (Mobarak, 1993) and not conducive to environmental sustainability.

4. A Community-Based Approach to Solid Waste Management

4.1 How it Started

Faced with an unsatisfactory and inadequate system of solid waste management, citizen groups are now coming forward to deal with the problem. Some community groups are taking initiatives themselves to manage the burgeoning challenge of waste. One such group is located in Ward 47--a neighborhood known as Rayer Bazar within the Dhaka city. Ms. Shanti Ribaru, a 35-year old woman, who lives in the neighborhood, organized the group. In recent years, similar groups have also cropped up in other areas of the City, such as Kalabagan and Mohammadpur.

Rayer Bazar is a mixed income neighborhood. People with moderate to low income live there. Many of the residents are office workers and small shop owners. Some are landlords. Fifty percent of the respondents of the survey claimed that they earned their living from wage employment and another 39% from business. Of the respondents, 31% had a monthly income of Tk. 5,000 and another 40% earned between Tk. 5,000- Tk.10,000 per month. The area has several slums.

People living in the Rayer Bazar area can be considered as educated. Over two-thirds, 68%, of the area residents have a high school or college education. Twenty-nine percent reported to have completed university education. Only 3% of the respondents are illiterate.

Shanti, who brought the group together, is a Christian in a predominantly Muslim country. She is a working woman and a sewing instructor by occupation. She mobilized a group of neighborhood women who make nakshi kantha, tapestries made of fine needle work. She and her family barely make a living from the sale of these products. She is not highly education--she can hardly read and write. She is not an impressive looking woman, nor does she display sophistication in communication. She is, however, a confident and persistent woman and she speaks with passion and conviction.

The idea of forming a community group for neighborhood clean up dates back to the late 1995 when Shanti participated in a motivational training program, organized by The Hunger Project, an NGO working in Bangladesh. The training was designed to create a group of volunteer-animators who were empowered by the vision of a self-reliant future for Bangladesh--a future in harmony with nature. In the course of the training, the participants came to realize their creative and productive potential and they committed to achieve that potential for creating a better futures for themselves as well as for the people around them. They learned some tools for mobilizing people at the grassroots and catalyzing local resources for solving many of the problems at the community level.

Following the training, the animators from Dhaka city decided to work together and take appropriate initiatives. Solving the environmental problems of Dhaka city was high in their agenda. Shanti decided to pursue the idea. She decided to mobilize the people of Rayer Bazar to launch a community-based solid waste management initiative.

During 1996 and the first six month of 1997, Shanti approached many of her neighbors with the idea. She also spoke with the elected City Commissioner to get his blessings. Many of her neighbors laughed at the idea. Some did not want to get involved even though they thought that it was a good idea. With persistent efforts for long 18 months, Shanti was, however, able to enroll eight other individuals as her partners for the initiative. They are all residents of Rayer Bazar. They include six petty businessmen, one office worker, one student and a political activist.

Although Shanti and some of her colleagues were originally and primarily driven by altruistic motives, some of their partners looked at it as a business proposition. After deliberating and pondering for some time, they made a verbal agreement among themselves. They decided to pool their own resources to initiate the Rayer Bazar Paribesh Dushan Muktho Prokalpa (Rayer Bazar Environment Clean-up Project-- RECP). The idea was to mobilize the people of Rayer Bazar neighborhood to participate in a community-based solid waste management initiative. The initiative called for collecting solid waste from the door steps of the residents, transporting them to designated locations and finally disposing them in an environmentally safe manner. In return, the residents would be asked to pay a monthly fee to the initiators of the project. The amount of fee to be paid was to be negotiated with the residents.

4.2 Workings of the Project

Having decided to go ahead with the idea, the initiators created an institutional framework--a committee of nine members--to implement the project. The committee consists of a president, a vice-president, a secretary, an assistant secretary, a treasurer and three members. Each of the committee members is a neighborhood resident, committed to do something about the growing problem of solid waste. They not only decided to work voluntarily, they also contributed Tk. 5,000 each, raising a total of Tk. 45,000 for the project. Shanti became the treasurer of the group and the custodian of the funds.

In July 1996, the committee members launched a community mobilization drive. They held workshops with the residents, emphasizing community role and responsibility to keep the neighborhood clean and environmentally safe. They visited almost every household of Rayer Bazar area and approached the residents to become members of the project. During the drive, they used a leaflet which gave the details of the working of the project.

Some residents resisted the idea of a private initiative on the ground that they already pay taxes to the DCC for providing the solid waste management service. Some others questioned the reliability and sustainability of such an initiative. The overwhelming majority, however, welcomed the door-to-door waste collection service and appreciated the prospect of seeing a cleaner neighborhood. During a month-long drive, over a thousand residents signed up for the service, and a monthly fee was negotiated with each of them. The fees ranged from Tk. 5 to Tk. 20 per month.

The amount of money raised by the committee was initially invested in three specially made cycle vans for hauling wastes, some buckets for carrying them to vans and some whistles to alert the service recipients. The cost of the van was Tk. 7,000 each. With this investment and about 1,300 members signing up, the service was initiated on August 1, 1996. Later, on September 27, 1997, the Minister for Local Government, who is the Deputy Leader of the Treasury Bench of the Bangladesh Parliament, formally inaugurated the project. The inaugural session was attended by the local Member of the Parliament, several City Commissioners, and was also featured on Bangladesh Television News.

Once the project became operational, the committee purchased a fourth van with the revenues collected from the service recipients. Each afternoon, the vans ply on the neighborhood streets to collect the refuse. As a van enters the street, the operator of the van blows the whistle to alert the residents. Then his assistants go from door-to-door with buckets to carry the refuse to the van. When the van gets full, it is driven to a disposal site. At present, the waste collected is disposed off in a neighborhood landfill.

The project is managed by the committee members themselves. The president is the executive head of the project. He is assisted by a General Secretary who is the second person in the organization. Shanti is the treasurer and she manages the finances. All of the committee members are engaged in other gainful economic activities and none of them is a salaried employee. The committee meets almost every Friday evening or as often as is needed, to deal with all the issues relating to the project. Once a month, they go over the finances. They do not have a permanent office and hence they at present meet in the business premises of the president who is a local shop owner.

The project is implemented with a group of salaried employees. Over the course of their operating period, the committee hired 16 individuals. Three employees--an operator and two assistants to collect wastes from door-to-door--work with each van. In addition to 12 employees for four vans, there is an employee on reserve to replace anyone who is absent due to sickness or being on leave. They work every afternoon, seven days a week, from 4 in the afternoon to eight in the evening. The operator is paid a monthly salary of Tk. 1,200 and the assistant operators are paid Tk. 800 each. They committee also hired three full-time supervisory employees--one supervisor and two assistants--for monthly salaries of Tk. 1,800 each. They supervise the street crew and collect monthly fees from the residents. The collection, for which a receipt is issued, is made during the first 12 days of the month. At the initial stage, Shanti’s husband was one of the assistant supervisors. The project, over the last few months, has evolved into a significant operation.

It should be noted that the committee members took all the initiatives and provided the necessary resources for the project. Shanti played the crucial role of a catalyst. All the necessary inputs for the project were available locally, but they would not have come together on their own for getting it successfully off the ground without Shanti’s all important entrepreneurial input. Thus, she herself made the project happen. The only assistance from outside she received that is worth mentioning was from The Hunger Project--some its personnel were mentors to her, providing continuing encouragement and inspiration.

The Dhaka City Corporation played no role in the Rayer Bazar Environment Clean-up Project. Its employees made no positive contribution either for getting the project off the ground nor for its continued operation. However, the cleaners employed by the DCC for the neighborhood were initially resistant to the idea--they were at the beginning afraid of becoming redundant as a result of the project. Now two of them, although five were originally hired, work as street crews for the project.

5. Effectiveness of the Project

The idea of the Rayer Bazar Environmental Clean-up Project was initially rooted in social concerns--making the neighborhood clean. Business and financial considerations are, however, the important driving force for getting it going. Judged from these twin objectives--altruism as well as profit motive--the project appears to be highly successful. It also created significant employment.

5.1 Environmental Impact and Resident Response

The impact of the RECP on environment is visible even to the eyes of occasional visitors to the neighborhood. In the past, people used to throw garbage everywhere on the street. Even the garbage taken to the DCC provided dustbins were scattered around by scavengers trying to salvage papers, plastic bags and other recyclable materials. With the RECP in operation for several months, the neighborhood is cleaner--heaps of garbage are no longer strewn around on the street. Three of the DCC provided permanent dustbins are no longer in use. As a result of the door-to-door collection, people no longer dump refuse into them, improving the aesthetic quality of the neighborhood.

To assess the impact of the project, 100 randomly selected families of the Rayer Bazar neighborhood, who are subscribers to the services of RECP, were surveyed. The results of the survey indicate that the overwhelming majority are satisfied with the present state of solid waste clean-up. Ninety five percent of the respondents answered affirmatively when asked whether they were satisfied with the services of the RECP. A vast majority, 90%, want to see the project sustained and 93% are willing to continue to pay for the services. Most importantly, 91% of the subscribers feel that their neighborhood has become cleaner as a result of the community-based initiative. It must be noted that the high level of satisfaction with the new initiative is associated with an overwhelming dissatisfaction with the solid waste management services provided by the DCC. Only 15% of the respondents are satisfied with the DCC provided waste management service.

Table 5 Resident Views Regarding Solid Waste Management
Questions	Positive (%)	Negative (%)
Satisfied with DCC waste management services?	15	85
Satisfied with RECP services?	95	5
Is the environment cleaner?	91	9
Are you willing to continue to pay?	93	7
Should RECP sustain?	90	10
Source: Survey conducted by the author

5.2 Economics of the Alternative Approach

Clearly, the RECP provides a much appreciated service to the residents of the Rayer Bazar community. It improved the aesthetics of the neighborhood. It also generated significant economic activities. In a job-scarce country like Bangladesh, it created employment and new income sources for 16 people.

The project also turned out to be a successful business venture in its short life span. It steadily increased the number of subscribers to the project. As of the end of February 1998, a total of 2,300 households signed up for the services of RECP, which is a significant proportion of the total resident population of Rayer Bazar area. Thus, the project appears to have received widespread community acceptance

Table 6 Economic Performance of the RECP
Month	Participants	Revenues	Expenses	Surplus
August 1997	1,300	Tk.15,000	Tk. 5,200	Tk. 9,800
September	1,800	19,500	6,428	13,072
October	2,300	22,500	10,567	11,933
November	2,300	22,500	9,344	13,156
December	2,300	22,500	9,796	12,704
January 1998	2,300	21,500	10,200	11,300
February 1998	2,300	22,595	9,700	12,895
Source: RECP

Revenues collected from the subscribers increased over the life of the project. It increased from Tk. 15,000 in August 1997 to Tk. 22,595 in February 1998. Expenses remained fairly steady as a percentage of the revenue--except for the hiring of additional workers and giving them raises in January. Staff salary increased from Tk. 5,200 for six employees in August 1997 to Tk. 9,100 for 11 employees in October and finally to Tk. 10,200 in January 1998. The employment cost varied from 35% to 45% of the total revenue. Thus, it is a very profitable venture, with the surplus ranging from 53% to 67% of the total revenue collected. The surplus amount is now distributed equally among the nine partners, creating a significant economic incentive for getting the project going.

The street crew also benefit handsomely from the project. In addition to a respectable salary, by Bangladeshi standards, for what amounts to part-time work, they earn a significant amount by recovering recyclable wastes. After collecting , the crew haul the waste to the dump site where they separate the recyclable materials. Each of them earn, on the average, Tk. 70-80 everyday from the sale of their recovered items. These economic benefits create a considerable incentive for sustaining the project.

Needless to mention that recovering of the recyclable materials prior to dumping improves the quality of the filled space of the dump site. With plastics, metals and other relatively non-degradable items recovered, the refuse dumps now receive only degradable materials. This not only make the filled space more aesthetic looking without having parts of plastic bags dangling out, it also improves the quality of the soil and makes the area re- useable. This is important in Bangladesh where, because of the high density of population, land is expensive and every bit of space, especially in and around urban areas, is put to use for dwelling or business activities.

5.3 Challenges Faced

The success of the RECP was not without some problems along the way. In fact, at one point there was a serious threat to its survival. Having observed its initial success, last November some organized youths of the neighborhood wanted to join the committee and become partners of the group. They were quite assertive. They even threatened to forcibly close the project if their demands were not met. On being refused, they physically assaulted a supervisor and took away the money receipts used by the group.

With some serious negotiations, the problem was finally solved. The young people were assured of receiving some skills training for self-employment with the assistance of The Hunger Project. On the face of the external threats, some serious disagreements surfaced among the committee members, creating some doubts about the continuation of the project. Again, with mutual discussions, the conflict was resolved.

6. Future Plans

Having achieved initial success, a spin-off venture is presently being planned. Several partners of the RECP, led by Shanti Ribaru, are now in the process of joining hands with some other individuals for launching a new waste recovery and recycling project. The group is making concrete plans to use the organic portion of the solid waste for aerobic composting.

A local NGO, Waste Concern, which is specifically involved with recycling of solid waste, has already launched a pilot project over a year ago to demonstrate the feasibility of aerobic composting. The project, located in a small vacant lot of 1,000 square meters in Mirpur area, uses source-separated organic waste collected directly from 300 households of the neighborhood, vegetable markets and local hotels. From one ton of organic waste collected, it produces 180-200 kilograms of high quality organic fertilizer which has a ready market. This is a very labor-intensive project, employing one manager and six workers. (Sinha and Enayetullah, 1997) Thus, aerobic composting will not only reduce the country’s dependence on environmentally-hazardous chemical fertilizer, it will also create much needed job opportunities.

It appears that the venture being planned by the new group has economic viability. However, there is a technical problem. The carbon-nitrogen ratio of the waste generated in Dhaka city is higher than the optimum range of 30-50% which is ideal for aerobic composting. Nevertheless, this deficiency can be easily remedied with the addition of high nitrogen wastes such as cow dung, chicken manure, human waste from septic tanks and digested sludge in the composting process. (Sinha and Enayetullah, 1997)

7. Conclusions and Implications

With the high density of population and continued inward migration of more people, the task of managing solid waste has become a monumental challenge for Dhaka city, the capital of Bangladesh. The present system, run by the Dhaka City Corporation, is inefficient and unsatisfactory. Such ineffectiveness creates serious threats to the City’s environment and poses risks for the health of its citizens. The problems will further accentuate when Dhaka becomes a mega city, as it is projected to become early next century. Many people have become seriously concerned about this prospect and have also began to see opportunities to do something about the problem. Acting on their own concerns, some individuals have started to organize community groups to deal with the burgeoning problems of solid waste in Dhaka city. One such group is located in Ward 47 of Dhaka city, known as Rayer Bazar area, which is a mixed neighborhood. Last August, the group launched the Rayer Bazar Environmental Clean-up Project by mobilizing the local community and pooling local resources.

The project involved collecting solid waste from door-to-door and disposing those in an environmentally safe manner. In return for the service, the subscribers pay a fee, ranging from Tk. 5 to Tk. 20 per household. As of the end of February 1998, a total of 2,300 households of the Rayer Bazar community signed up for the service offered by the project. It is managed by a committee of nine, headed by a president. An informal partnership arrangement exists among the committee members and they used their own funds to finance the project.

In the course of its brief life span, the RECP has been very successful. Although altruistic motives were behind the original conception of the initiative, actual economic benefits underlie its success. Not only has the project made the streets of the Rayer Bazar cleaner, it also generated significant economic activities. In seven months, the project created employment for 16 people. As a business venture, it has been quite successful--month after month it has generated significant amounts of surplus funds which have been shared by the partners. It also has a group of highly satisfied clients.

The initial success of the project created potential new opportunities. A spin-off group is now being organized to launch a new venture to process the organic portion of the waste. The initiative is planning to turn wastes into resources by producing high quality organic fertilizer and also to generate employment

Shanti Ribaru, a 35-year old sewing instructor with practically no formal education and no sophisticated communication skills, performed the all important role of the catalyst for the project. She was inspired by The Hunger Project, and she received continuing mentoring and inspiration from its officials. She received no other outside help with respect to the project. The DCC played no role in either getting the project off the ground or in its continued operation.

It is clear that the Rayer Bazar Environmental Clean-up Project is a quite successful venture. It is not only sustainable from an environmental point of view, it is also an economically viable initiative. It led to what is called Pareto improvements--a concept used in welfare economics to indicate a situation where an action makes at least some people better off without making anyone worse off.

The project undoubtedly makes an interesting case study. What implications can we draw from the study? What lessons can we learn from it?

One lesson appears to be that many of the challenging problems involving human well being have community-based solutions. Even a thorny environmental issue like solid waste management confronting a community can be locally solved by mobilizing the members of the community. Many times, if not most of the time, the resources, both human and non-human, for such projects are available within the community. Even the financial resources do not have to come from outsiders, or from donors for that matter. Often they can be marshaled internally.

Two very important reasons appear to account for the success of the project. One reason is the establishment of property rights on solid wastes. Generation of wastes, like pollution, causes external diseconomies. That is, accumulated wastes impose costs or affect the well being of the people without their being compensated. Waste creators are not traditionally viewed to be owners of the waste and are not penalized for the nuisance they create. The so-called exchanges between the creators and sufferers of the nuisance take outside the marketplace. Viewing wastes as public good, municipal authorities provide the service of managing them. The idea of the community-based solid waste management service internalizes the externalities by imposing ownership rights on wastes. Because of the establishment of these property rights, residents can be asked to pay a fee for the service. Without the existence of such fees, the Rayer Bazar Environmental Clean-up Project could not even have gotten off the ground, much less have acheived such success.

The implications of the RECP is that the solid waste management service does not have to be viewed as a public good and the municipal authorities do not have to take the responsibility for providing the service. Thus, the DCC can get off the hook and not be required to provide the service. There is, of course, a flip side to this view. With a discontinuation of the waste management service, if it ever happens, the city residents may demand a refund of their taxes from the DCC. In this context, the all important question will be: will the city leaders ever allow the erosion of their power base by trimming the size of the city government by 5,000 employees through the process of the internalization of externalities?

Another reason for the success of the RECP is that it incorporates a very effective structure of incentives. Although launched on the basis of altruistic motives, the project evolved into a profit-making venture. The significant amount of surplus funds it generated month after month for the partners created strong incentives for keeping it going, in spite of internal and external threats. The hired employees also enjoyed strong inducements for the successful operation of the project. In addition to earning significant monthly wages for part-time work, the street crew earned handsomely by recovering the recyclable materials on a daily basis. Thus, they had incentives to work harder and better.

Needless to say that, with a lucrative incentive structure present, similar projects in other areas of the city are likely to crop up, and they already have. This presents both threats as well as opportunities for the DCC. It is obvious that the municipal solid waste management system, to the extent that it lacks an incentive structure, is inherently inefficient. Considering such built-in inefficiency, the DCC may either get out of the business of providing such service, which has been increasingly becoming an almost impossible task, or devise an effective incentive structure, which will not also be easy to do. These are threats. The DCC may decide to completely ignore them, which it is doing now, or they may start wallowing in those threats. Alternatively, they could actively encourage and facilitate the neighborhood initiatives like the RECP and integrate those initiatives into a master plan for offering a comprehensive waste management service. This is likely to lead to a more satisfactory service, cleaner neighborhoods and a more efficient city government. The city leaders will have to decide which way they want to proceed.

Is the RECP reproducible? The project was implemented by mobilizing the community and catalyzing local resources. Thus, the crucial input for the successful implementation of the project is the all important role of a catalyst. Shanti Ribaru was the catalyst for the RECP. She acted as a spark-plug. All the ingredients for the project were present in the community; she caused the initial spark--after long and arduous efforts--to make it happen.

The Rayer Bazar experience shows that the catalyst does not have to be highly educated nor has to have a most sophisticated disposition. He or she has to be highly committed, confident and persistent to make a difference. He or she has to be socially conscious and driven by altruistic motives--a sense that can be aroused through appropriate empowerment. To the extent that these qualities can be spawned, unleashed or aroused, the project is reproducible. Organizations like The Hunger Project have been quite successful in designing training programs for people to be catalysts, empowering them with a vision and instilling in them some of these attributes. Thus, with an attractive incentive structure present, we see no good reason why the RECP should not be replicated elsewhere.

An important policy implication may be drawn from the success of the RECP. It can perhaps point to a new approach to sustainable poverty eradication for a country like Bangladesh. It is clear that, to the extent some individuals are available to play the role of catalysts, many of the problems relating to hunger and poverty can be solved at the community levels through mobilized group action. People can indeed create their own institutions--for example, schools, health centers, etc.--with their own leadership, primarily using local resources. They can, as organized groups, carry out many information campaigns at the grassroots on health, nutrition, sanitation, and also mobilize campaigns for plantation and the eradication of illiteracy without substantial, if any, resources from outside. Such a community initiative approach would be very different from the prevailing poverty alleviation efforts which normally involve implementing projects and providing services by government and non-government entities--efforts which are usually dependent on external resources and are driven by donors or outsiders. It goes without saying that this service delivery approach has not made much of a dent in the poverty landscape of Bangladesh. Thus, the alternative community initiative approach deserves serious consideration by the policy makers. What is needed for this alternative approach is to train and inspire a group of volunteer-animators and empower them to play the role of catalysts. The Hunger Project has begun to show some success with this approach in Bangladesh.

References

1. M.F.Ahmed, "Municipal Waste Management in Bangladesh with Emphasis on Recycling," Aspects of Solid Waste Management: Bangladesh Context, German Cultural Centre, Goethe-Institute, Dhaka, 1994.
2. Sandra Cointreau-Levine, Private Sector Participation in Solid Waste Services in Developing Countries, Vol. 1, The World Bank, 1994.

3. "Urban Population to Rise by 16m in 7 Years," The Independent, January 19, 1998.

4. Mott MacDonald and Culpin Planning Ltd., "Dhaka Metropolitan Development Planning: Waste Management Report," A UNDP-sponsored Study, 1992.

5. Reaz Mobarak, "Health Problems Due to Urban Wastes in Dhaka City," Aspects of Solid Waste Management: Bangladesh Context.

6. A.H.Md. Maqsood Sinha and Iftekhar Enayetullah, "Recycling Potentials of Organic Waste in Dhaka," Earth, (5) Winter 1995.

7. A.H.Md. Maqsood Sinha and Iftekhar Enayetullah, "Waste Concern: Concerned with Waste," Earth, (7) October 1996.
8. A.H.Md. Maqsood Sinha and Iftekhar Enayetuallah, "Waste as Resource," The Bangladesh Observer, November 21, 1997.
9. Md. Abdus Shukur and Kamaleswar Paul, "Final Disposal of Solid Waste in Dhaka City," Aspects of Solid Waste Management: Bangladesh Context.
10. Arefin Wadood, "Effects of Urban Wastes on Environment and its Control," Aspects of Solid Waste Management: Bangladesh Context.
11. Tariq Bin Yousuf, "Sustainability of Solid Waste Management System of Dhaka City Corporation," A Master’s Thesis, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, 1996.