Solid waste information of Faisalabad

INTRODUCTION

In natural systems there is no such thing as waste. Everything flows in a natural cycle of use and

reuse. Living organisms consume materials and eventually return them to the environment,

usually in a different form, for reuse. It refers to any variety of discarded materials, not liquid or

gas that is deemed useless or worthless. Unfortunately, what is worthless to one person may be

of value to someone else. Solid wastes are really misplaced resources. Therefore, learning how to

effectively reduce the amount wastes and to recycle valuable resources from them is important if

humans wish to maintain a livable and sustainable environment.

Ancient cultures dealt with waste disposal in different ways: dump it outside their settlements;

incorporate some of it into flooring and building materials; recycle some of it. Dumping and/or

burning solid waste has been a standard practice over the centuries.

SOURCES AND TYPES OF SOLID WASTE

There are two basic sources of solid wastes:

Non municipal

Municipal

Non municipal solid waste

Non municipal solid waste is the discarded solid material from industry, agriculture, mining, and

oil and gas production.

Some common items that are classified as non municipal waste are: construction materials

(roofing shingles, electrical fixtures, bricks); waste -water sludge; incinerator residues; ash;

scrubber sludge; oil/gas/mining waste; railroad ties; and pesticide containers.

Municipal solid waste

Municipal solid waste refers to the discarded solid materials from residences, businesses, and

city buildings.

Municipal solid waste consists of materials from plastics to food scraps. Generally, the most

common waste product is paper (about 40% of the total). Other common components are yard

waste (green waste), plastics, metals, wood, glass and food waste. The composition of the

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municipal wastes can vary from region to region and from season to season. Food waste, which

includes animal and vegetable wastes resulting from the preparation and consumption of food, is

commonly known as garbage.

Hazardous waste

Some solid wastes are unsafe to the health and well-being of humans. These materials are

classified as hazardous wastes. Hazardous wastes are defined as materials which are toxic,

carcinogenic (cause cancer), mutagenic (cause DNA mutations), teratogenic (cause birth

defects), highly flammable, corrosive or explosive. Although hazardous wastes in the United

States are supposedly regulated, some obviously hazardous solid wastes are excluded from strict

regulation: mining wastes and hazardous household and small business wastes.

Background information of Faisalabad

Faisalabad, formerly known as   Lyallpur, is the largest metropolis in Pakistan, the second largest

in the province of   Punjab and a major industrial center in the heart of Pakistan.

The city is at a road and railway junction, which has played an influential role in the

development of Faisalabad’s trade and economy. It is known for production of   cotton,   wheat,

sugarcane,   vegetables, and   fruits, which form 55% of Pakistan's exports. The city is an

industrial centre  with major railway repair yards, engineering works, and   mills  that process

sugar,   flour, and   oil seed. Produce includes   super phosphates,   cotton  and  silk textiles,  

hosiery,   dyes,   industrial chemicals,   beverages, apparels,   pulp and paper, printing,

agricultural equipment, and   ghee. Faisalabad is famous for its Export Quality Textile Products.

Sources of city’s solid waste

City’s waste mostly composed of;

Domestic and municipal waste (largely consist of rags, polythene bags and plastics) including

garbage and trash

Industrial waste from industries, factories and mills

Agricultural waste from poultries, farms, agricultural activities, use of chemicals and fertilizers;

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Hazardous waste from hospitals, healthcare centers, veterinary facilities and clinics;

construction and demolition waste, slaughter houses

E-waste composed of discarded batteries, electrical wires and electronic instrument.

Leading waste generator industries

Following list shows the leading generators of industrial waste.

Textile mills

Hosiery Mills

Power looms mills

Fertilizer industry

Hospitals

Soap making units

livestock

Agriculture sector

Cotton industry

Grain mills

Solid Waste Management of Faisalabad

Solid Waste Management plan of Faisalabad consists of following steps.

Establishment of a Solid Waste Management Department (SWM) in the Faisalabad City

Replacement of old method of sweeping by sanitary workers on main roads with

mechanical road sweepers.

Placement of containers at the temporary Transfer station where previously the waste was

lying openly.

Development of proper landfill site in process.

Shifting of cattle from the main city.

Approximately 1359-1500 tons of waste produces daily.

Only 70% is transferred to the dumping site with existing machinery.

Inadequate number of vehicles for transportation of waste.

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Non-availability of facility of segregation and recycling of inorganic waste.

No proper workshops for vehicles maintenance and repair.

CURRENT STATUS OF SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT

In Faisalabad the Solid Waste is being disposed off without any precautionary measures.

No treatment of wastes is carried out except for incidental recycling by scavengers.

No system exists for the separate disposal of hazardous waste.

No measures are being taken to negate adverse environmental effects.

There is as yet no monitoring of air quality in the city.

No facility exists for the treatment of affluent from the industrial plants.

Textile and grain mills are a major source of air, land and water pollution.

Dying process in a textile industries are major source of pollution.

Noise and offensive industrial odors are serious problems

Untreated industrial water is the serious source of pollution.

SWM in urban policy making

The population of the Faisalabad City is more than 2.3 Million and daily production of Solid

Waste is about 1350-1500 Tons but the lifting capacity of the Solid Waste by the fleet of

vehicles and allied machinery available to the City District Government is about 900 tons.

Remaining waste remains unfitted in open areas of different localities especially unconstructed

residential or commercial plots of different areas. No facility for the treatment of wastes is

available. No system exists for the separate disposal of hazardous Solid Waste.

Total waste production and recycled waste

In (EPMC Estimates 1996) total waste estimated and recycled is as follows;

Parameter Per capita Kgm / p/d Total Tons / day

Municipal Waste

production

0.324 598

Recycled waste 0.092 170

Total waste delivered 0.388 716

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to transfer points

These figures are based on an estimated population of about 1,850,000. The figure for total waste includes

figures of about 118 tons per day for street sweepings and 93 tons per day for animal waste. A recent City

District Government estimate puts the total per-capita waste production at 0.5kgm per day and the total

waste arising figure for Faisalabad City at 1350 tons per day.

Waste composition reveals the following major components: (EPMC Estimates

1996)

Food (10-23.5%)

Recyclables (13.6-.23.55%

Grass/leaves straw (10-21%)

Fines fraction (34.2-56.7%)

Plastics, paper, textiles and stones (3-6%)

According to district government, an estimate of daily generated and lifted waste is as follows:

Daily waste generation is calculated on the basis of per capita waste generation assumed at 0.5

Kg/cap/day for Faisalabad city.

Composition of solid waste

Physical composition of solid

waste by weight in Faisalabad is

given below:

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Generated waste (tons/day) Lifted waste (tons/day)

1350-1500 approx. 900

Animal waste 93

Composition %weight

Plastic & rubber 4.80

Metals 0.20

Paper 2.10

Cardboard 1.60

Rags 5.20

Glass 1.30

Bones 2.90

Food waste 17.20

Animal waste 0.80

Leaves, grass etc 15.60

Wood 0.70

Fines 43.00

Stones 4.60

Source:http://www.resol.com.br/textos/INVOLVEMENT%20OF%20INFORMAL%20SECTOR

%20IN%20PLASTIC%20AND%20PAPER%20RECYCLING%20IN%20PAKISTAN.pdf

Paper & plastic waste generation

As a proportion of total municipal waste stream, the

share of Plastic is more or less equal to the figure of

some developed countries. However, it is important to

note that the ratio of Plastic in municipal solid waste

decrease to less than 1% as the informal Collectors pick

up plastic, paper and metallic waste to sell them for their economic returns.

Source: EPMC Estimates, 1996

Hospital waste:

According to Journal of Advanced Research (2013) average waste generation in various hospitals

is 1.12 kg per day per bed. The studied hospitals generate approximately 5.5 tons waste day-1.

Waste is broadly classified as follows:

Infectious waste 12%

Non infectious (general) waste 78%

Recyclable waste 66%

Paper 5%, plastic 55%, textile 10%, glass 30% (Journal of Advanced Research 2013)

Types of infectious hospital waste produced by hospitals in faisalabad is listed below:

Clinical waste 63%

Pathological waste 65%

Radioactive waste 48%

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Paper(tons) Plastic(tons)

Per

day

Per

year

Per

day

Per

year

19.4 5820 44.4 13320

This study shows that G1 hospital is one of the big hospitals (1300 beds) in district Faisalabad

and generates large quantity of waste (1750 kg-1 day-1). Number of beds in G2 hospital is about

1 times less than G1 hospital and waste generated by the G2 hospital (740 kg-1 day-1) is greater

than G1 hospital.. In general, public hospitals generate large amount of waste, trust hospitals

generate medium and waste generation rate of private hospitals is much less than those of public

and trust hospitals.

Final disposal of hospital waste includes:

By dumping 20%

By incinerator 20%

By municipal corporation 60%

Only two hospitals Allied and District headquarter have facility of incinerator. Waste is unsafely

disposed of in over loaded transportation.(Journal of Advanced Research 2013)

Industrial sector:

A total of 794 209 kg day-1 (289 886 285 kg year-1) solid waste is produced by this sector. No

waste is sent to landfill. The waste is first segregated into different categories/ types by hand and

then weighed. Cotton waste is sold to brick kilns where it is used as an alternative fuel as it is

cheaper than wood/coal.

Agriculture sector:

The city has developed a comprehensive electricity generation plan to make crop waste usable

which is consists of collection of waste, processing, transportation and power generation. This

considerably reduces waste produced by this sector.

Impacts of solid waste

Some of the impacts of solid waste which have been reported till now in Faisalabad are described

below.

Industrial waste

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As might be expected, the textile and grain mills are a major source of air, water and land

pollution. Local studies (Ahmad et al, 1989 and Ahmad 1990) have shown that chemicals used

by the textile industry impact the heart and liver significantly. Dying processes in the textile

industry are also major sources of pollution that go unchecked. Noise and offensive industrial

odors are generally recognized as serious problems, but they are neither monitored nor

controlled. Untreated industrial water is the main source of pollution and is dangerous to both

human and marine life. Particularly dangerous are the liquid effluents created by textile factories.

These become more hazardous when they are channeled into the domestic sewer system. The

negative impact on the overall quality of the environment, especially on ground water quality,

becomes still more serious. This is because many of these discharges contain significant

quantities of heavy metal and contaminants from chemicals used in the dye or bleaching

processes associated with textile industries and soap making units. Furthermore, the unrestricted

use of these effluents in the production of crops, especially vegetables, has adverse effects on

human and livestock health. Similarly, emissions of smoke, other gases and fumes from the

industrial establishments create serious health hazards.

Hospital waste & Municipal waste

The three major diseases are reported by the health department; however, these have changed

slightly over the past 27 years. In 1970, these were TB, malaria and typhoid. By 1997 malaria

had been brought under control, and the three main diseases were typhoid, dysentery and liver

disease. It does not have data on the incidence of other diseases, but these few observations

indicate that infectious diseases are still paramount. Moreover, they derive from environmental

conditions that could be controlled by a more adequate urban infrastructure, in particular the

provision of clean water and the more effective management of human waste.

Management

Landfill site consisting of 40 acres of land is available but the filth is being dumped there in the

open. Initially a trench was dug where the Solid Waste was dumped in layers, each layer covered

with the earth. This trench had no lining to prevent the seepage of leachet to the ground water.

After the filling of this trench no other trench was dug. No machinery is available such as

bulldozer and excavator to dig the trench and to compact the Solid Waste.

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References

1. International Journal of Advanced Research (2013), Volume 1, Issue 10, 482-

494EPMC, Data Collection for Preparation of National Study on Privatization of Solid

Waste Management in Eight Selected Cities of Pakistan” by Engineering Planning and

Management Consultants (EPMC), Lahore (1996).

2. Review and analysis of present situation of solid waste management in Pakistan

http://www.environment.gov.pk/ea-glines/swmglinesdraft.pdf (Accessed dated 15

November 2013)

3. Evaluation of Hospital Waste Management in Public and Private Sector Hospitals of

Faisalabad City Pakistan(2013), vol 2, no 2,p 161

4. Pre-Feasibility Study report for Urban Transport and Industrial Waste Management Faisalabad Asian Development Bank

5. Summary - Strategic Development Plan Faisalabad The study was funded by ODA and carried out by Binnie and Partners, working with GHK International and NESPAk

6. Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Published by MCSER-CEMAS-Sapienza University of Rome Vol 2 No 2 July 2013

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