The rising urban population has been changing the nature of solid waste management in Bangladesh from mainly a localised issue to a more distinct and persistent social problem.  Despite the growing extent of this problem, the sector continues to remain one of the most disorganised areas of urban development in Bangladesh. An estimated 47000 tons of solid waste per day will be generated in urban areas by 2025, which is almost three and half times more than the current generation. Effective solid waste management has the potential not only to reduce the amount of waste generated in the country but also create employment opportunities for the urban poor. 

As noted earlier, the solid waste management system in the country in not well organized. In most of the city corporations and municipalities there is no separate department for solid waste management. The local body in urban areas, whose primary responsibility is maintenance of the sanitation system, is also responsible for collection and disposal of wastes. Therefore, the efficiency is poor and on an average, about 55% of the waste generated in urban areas is collected.  Moreover, civic awareness is low, especially among slum dwellers and in low income areas of the country.

As a result, waste management continues to be largely concentrated in the informal sector in Bangladesh. Approximately, 120,000 urban poor from the informal sector are involved in recycling in Dhaka city alone. The waste is disposed mainly in low-lying land and a number of minor sites which are operated in an unplanned manner. The uncollected waste is dumped in open spaces and streets. About 10% of total generated waste, which mainly consists of inorganic material, is picked and recycled by scavengers, popularly known as ‘tokais’. 

As a direct consequence of the poor performance of the urban municipal corporations in cities, there has been a rise in community-based initiatives by private and non-government organizations that are increasingly playing an important role in waste management. In 1995, ‘Waste Concern’, a Non Governmental Organization (NGO), started a community-based low-cost composting project in Mirpur in Dhaka. The compost produced from wastes is marketed by a private organization.

Around 83% of the cultivable land in Bangladesh has less than 3% of organic matter due to the extensive use of chemical fertilizers on land. Compost produced from urban waste could provide nutrients to the degrading agricultural land, thereby increasing agricultural productivity. The Mirpur composting model is a good example of how composting can be a viable option to a conventional solid waste management model. Here, not only is the amount of waste to be transported and dumped reduced, but also provides employment to a large number of urban poor in waste recycling. For instance, a composting plant with a capacity of three-ton per day requires 20 workers. Around 6 workers are employed for collection of the wastes and another 14 are employed for composting. Even if 20% of the organic waste produced in the urban areas is composted, then it has the potential to generate employment for about 50000 people in 2025.

Apart from this, some NGOs such as ‘Shubashati' have developed a sustainable model for municipal services, whereby they can hire the sweepers, supervisors, equipments, and trucks, on cash payment. The pilot model was adopted to outsource disposal responsibility of the municipality to a NGO and also promote the participation of Community Based Organizations (CBOs) in waste management, in particular for garbage collection from households.

More recently, there have been some efforts to improve the organizational structure of solid waste management in different cities. For instance, in order to improve waste management services, the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) established a Solid Waste Management Cell. The DCC has fully privatized solid waste management in some areas in Dhaka such as Uttara, Gullshan, Mohakali and Tejgaon, where the private stakeholders are involved in door to door waste collection, dustbin cleaning, street sweeping, drain cleaning and waste transportation. 

The role of stakeholders, such as NGOs, CBOs and private organizations will continue to grow in the country’s efforts to effectively manage solid waste. A well-established public–private partnership will ensure sustainable management of waste. For this, the city corporations will need to bring in suitable policies and coordinate the activities of private and community organizations in order to translate concrete plans into reality in waste management.