PESHAWAR:Environmentalists have suggested for promoting ideas and practices of transforming trash dumps into useful resources through recycling for better and sustainable management of solid waste in the country.
This suggestion was made during a webinar on `Solid Waste Management in Pakistan’ organized by the Institute of Urbanization (IOU), an organization striving for making cities green.
“Our waste is a valuable resource, providing multiple opportunities like conversion of trash into organic fertilizer, obtaining of bio-gas, production of different products through recycling and generation of electricity,” observed Babar Abbas, Consultant Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC).
“Promotion of the idea of waste to the resource will not only create livelihood opportunities but also resolve a serious environmental issue of lack of proper solid waste management system which is also an international obligation for us in regard to achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” Babar observed.
We need a lot of awareness for highlighting the potential of solid waste as a useful resource through which we can get useful soil conditioners and fertilizer by converting organic waste which can be utilized in different domains in terms of promoting agriculture and vegetation patterns in both urban and rural areas, he opined.
Being an agricultural country most of our waste is organic coming from livestock and farmhouses which can be easily converted into a useful product of bio-gas, which needs a very simple infrastructure and can help to some extent to cope with the energy crisis in the country.
“Through prevailing practice of dumping of the solid waste we are also burying tons of useful resources that our trash contains including combustible waste, non-combustible waste which is also called as organic and green waste,” Babar explains.
The combustible waste includes plastic, glass, paper, board and metal, he elaborated adding that if these items are segregated properly we can utilize them in the production of a lot of useful products and create a lot of employment opportunities for people.
The biggest issue is the mishandling of our solid waste which needs a lot of awareness to educate people about the potential of both combustible and non-combustible waste which, if segregated in preliminary state at household level or dumping sites, can benefit us both financially and environmentally.
The developed countries have transformed their solid waste management through dumping to properly utilizing of resource, he added.
Through the installation of large-size incinerators, the solid waste can not only be properly managed but electricity can also be generated, he went on to say.
For sustainable management of solid waste, we have to work on availing the support of citizens for proper handling of trash at the household level through awareness.
Similarly, for a proper system, we need capacity building to ensure that the technologies we develop are in accordance with our local conditions and have trained staff.
We can also take recycling industries on board by offering them subsidies and giving them green points to enjoy favor in import and export.
The waste management sector in the country should design and develop an infrastructure through which they can work and develop technologies which does not require much expenditure and expertise like composting, bio-gas etc, he advised.
“Improper solid waste management is a major concern of public health that need to be addressed on government and individual level,” observed Adeel Saeed, a Peshawar-based journalist with a focus on environmental issues.
Up to 60% of solid waste is not collected properly both in urban and rural areas eventually causing environmental hazards by polluting irrigation channels through passages in canals, Adeel added.
Syed Hasnaian Raza, an Environmental Researcher, said waste can be turned into a resource but its needs awareness, commitment and implementation.
Around one million plastic bottles are sold globally every minute and the size of plastic waste accumulation in seas is covering a large portion of water which is a matter of serious concern.
Whereas now, he continued, due to the population bulge small cities have now turned into big ones and the dwellers are facing lots of environmental problems due to improper disposal of solid waste.
He said innovative ideas about useful utilization of solid waste are being floated time and again but due to lack of proper attention these practices are not promoted.