A Study on Solid Waste Generation of Household and Potential of Resource Recovery in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Abstract

Rapid population growth in Dhaka has resulted in excess generation of solid waste. Present solid waste management authority of Dhaka City Corporation is struggling to manage this huge amount of waste properly as there is no framework on solid waste management. The purpose of this work is to identify the present waste generation per person (Kg/person/day) in a housing society of Dhaka city and possible resource recovery potential of solid waste of the area so that the correspondent authority can have a scope of finding a framework for effective management of solid waste. The survey was conducted in 100 households of Mirpur Defense Officers’ Housing Society, (DOHS) Dhaka. These households were classified into five groups according to monthly income ranging from 60,000 BDT to 160,000 BDT. The total population of the area was around 15,000. Average waste generation was found 0.74 Kg/person/ day. Around 11.10 tons of solid waste was generated per day and major fraction was food waste (on average 69.90%). About 226 Kilograms of solid waste can easily be achievable for using as compost component every day. Possible energy recovery from generated waste was equivalent to 3428.70 Kwh of electricity per day