Coronavirus lockdowns and slowdown in human and economic activities have provided a chance for all stakeholders in all sectors to take a deep breath and look for better, smarter more economical and safer way of working. Waste management sector should not be an exception. It’s a multi-billion sector providing thousands of direct and thousands of indirect jobs. Right from a sanitary worker on street to the Managing Directors of waste management companies or service providers to the owners of vehicles’ maintenance workshops and the manufacturers of vehicles and equipment and those involved in supply, operation and management, the sector can be considered as one of major livelihood providers in the country.
However, regrettably the sector has never been given the importance or status it deserves. Besides economic benefits, the most important fact is if the sector stops working, none of our human settlements would be livable after a week. Though, it enjoys this much importance but unfortunately it has not even been recognized as a sector to date. It is time for the government to declare it as an independent sector/industry and provide incentives at all levels especially to the manufacturing industry so that country can start producing the required vehicles and equipment whose import is not only time taking but also reserves draining.
Waste management sector requires reforms in all four segments i.e. legal, technical, institutional, and financial. Reforms in all these four segments along with a sustained long term effective public awareness campaign can lead to reformed and a smarter result-oriented waste management sector. Federal Government should provide National Waste Management Policy with realistic goals for next 35 years which should make basis for the provinces to prepare their own plans and execute them.
Similar to technical reforms, institutional reforms in waste management sector are unavoidable. With the well-defined legal framework all institutions involved in waste management need to be synchronized and again diffusion and duplicity of responsibility need to be avoided
On legal grounds, the responsibilities must be fixed clearly, any diffusion of responsibility or duplicity of ownership should be clarified once and for all. Currently even with the latest versions of legal documents the responsibility of waste collection, transport and disposal lies with all tiers of the local government. It must be handled in a convergent manner where collection and primary transport be done at Tehsil level, secondary storage, collection and transport should be at District level while transport to and safe disposal be ensured by the Divisional government. This would clearly assign the responsibilities and eliminate duplication of assigned jobs. Furthermore, all local government bodies should prepare their by-laws related to waste management, tax collection, penalizing should be introduced and more importantly time bound improvement mile stones be introduced. Otherwise we’ll end up collecting, transporting and dumping waste just like last few centuries. Read: No waste dumps! a distant dream became truth in neighboring India https://dailytimes.com.pk/390298/no-waste-dumps-a-distant-dream-became-truth-in-neighboring-india/
Technical reforms seem to be one of the most difficult tasks. Unfortunately, the technical requirements placed by waste management companies or clients in the tender documents for services provision are found to be at too high level. Ground realities should be considered and local industrial support must be assessed before seeking high-end solutions. Instead of one-time jump, gradual improvement should be ensured. To the date only successful landfill existed in Multan which has expired few years back. Other waste dumping sites acted or got converted to wild dump sites (which incorrectly are being referred as landfill). Safe disposal of any collected waste for at least next 21 years should be made part of any waste management plan. Door-to-door waste collection is a concept being applied in only very high-end settlements of different countries. Most of the population in Europe and the USA uses street-based container system for waste management. Door-to-door waste collection using either a sanitary worker or a mechanized option at the cost of service provider may increase total cost of the system by 35-40%. Time has come that the waste producer is assigned at least some responsibility. At later stage separate waste collection as organic and recyclables could be applied adding value to the waste management sector. Least mechanized transfer stations and safe waste disposal facilities that may include dry sanitary landfills should be made part and parcel of any system. It must not be forgotten that waste economy is very sensitive, waste to energy or composting would work only when right type and quality of waste is available very similar to any industry that also needs same to produce profit generating product. Read: Understanding the waste-to-energy economics
https://dailytimes.com.pk/399666/understanding-the-waste-to-energy-economics/.When handling municipal solid waste, it must be noted that all types of wastes produced in a city need attention and they must be part of the overall waste management plan.
Similar to technical reforms, institutional reforms in waste management sector are unavoidable. With the well-defined legal framework all institutions involved in waste management need to be synchronized and again diffusion and duplicity of responsibility need to be avoided. Waste management companies could be converted to services providers (Bahawalpur Waste Management Company is most successful in Punjab) or contract management companies with minimum level involvement as supervisor if services are outsourced. Job specific human resource should be hired and if not available, a comprehensive plan should be developed and implemented to fulfill human resource needs of the sector for coming decades. Once again it is suggested that primary waste collection i.e. from source should be made responsibility of waste producer the one who enjoyed a certain commodity and generated the waste. This would decrease a responsibility tier in the system and may also result in significant cost decrease. It is doable as successful ban on plastic bags have shown, littering can also be penalized and avoided in short term.
No system will be able to work unless it is financially self-sustainable or have never ending subsidy. Waste management sector also needs full-cost recovery models and time has already passed to implement polluter pays principle on waste producers also. Tariffs should be introduced however most importantly any fee or tax collected in this regard must only be utilized for the sector only. Subsidy should be diminished with time and it must be remembered that formal revenue from waste management sector can be achieved only when waste of a certain quality and quantity can be made available.
In summary waste management sector must be declared a separate sector like construction industry and be equipped with at least 35 years policy at federal level with plans at provincial levels.
The writer is working as a senior specialist at the Urban Unit Lahore. He has studied and worked in fields of Engineering, Public Health, Ecology, Disaster Management, Change Management and Energy Management. He is especially interested in circular economy and climate change. Email: [email protected]