Municipal, Industrial and Hazardous

Waste
Landfills and Composts
 Waste
• Any unwanted material or substance that results from a
human activity or process.
❑Pakistan generates approximately 49.6 million tons of solid
waste a year, which has been increasing more than 2.4 percent
annually.
❑Like other developing countries, Pakistan lacks waste
management infrastructure, creating serious environmental
problems.
 Problems with Waste
• We are running out of space to put the waste
– Barges
– Burn it
• Population increases, waste increases, space
decreases
• Average person in Pakistan produces 13kg of
solid waste a day!
Types of Solid Waste
• Municipal solid waste
• Industrial solid waste
• Hazardous solid waste
• Wastewater
 Municipal Solid Waste
❑ Non-liquid waste that comes from homes, institutions, and
small businesses.
❑ The Government of Pakistan (GOP) estimates that 87,000
tons of solid waste is generated per week, mostly from major
metropolitan areas.
❑ Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, generates more than 16,500
tons of municipal waste daily.
❑ All major cities face enormous challenges on how to manage
urban waste.
❑ Bureaucratic hurdles, lack of urban planning, inadequate
waste management equipment, and low public awareness
contribute to the problem.
Solid Waste Generation in Major Cities
Municipal Solid Ash, bricks, and
dirt – 18%,
Waste Glass – 6%,
Textile - 2%,
Cardboard - 7%,
Food wastes - 30%,
Leather - 1%,
Paper - 6%,
Plastic - 9%,
Rubber - 1%,
Metal - 4%,
Wood - 2%,
Yard wastes - 14%.
Source: United Nations Environment Programme, report
on waste management in Pakistan
PAKISTAN’S PLASTIC WASTE
MANAGEMENT
 Wastewater
• The water that is used
in our households,
businesses, industries,
or public facilities and
drain or flush down
our pipes, as well as
polluted runoff from
our streets and storm
drains.
 Industrial Solid Waste
• Waste that comes from the
production of consumer goods,
mining, agriculture, and
petroleum extraction and
refining.
– Scrap metal
– Plastics
– Paper
– Sludge
– Construction waste
– Farm waste
– Factory waste
 Sanitary Landfills
• Location where waste is buried in the ground or
piled in large, carefully engineered mounds.
– Located away from wetlands / earthquake zones
– Must be 20 feet above the water table
– Bottom and sides lined with heavy duty plastic and
four feet of impermeable clay to prevent groundwater
contamination
– Must have a system of pipes to collect and treat
leachate.
• Leachate systems have to be monitored for 30 years after
the landfill closes.
 Solid Waste Disposal:
Sanitary Landfills
• Waste is buried in
the ground or
carefully piled into
mounds.

• Designed to prevent
groundwater
contamination and
minimize soil and
air pollution.
Integrated Waste Management
 Existing Solid Waste Management
System in Pakistan
▪ Local and municipal governments are responsible for collecting
waste throughout most of Pakistan’s major cities.
▪ About 60-70 percent of solid waste in the cities is collected.
▪ The waste collection fleet typically consists of handcarts and
donkey pull-carts for primary collection; then open trucks,
tractor/trolley systems, and arm roll containers/trucks for
secondary collection and transport.
▪ Some municipalities hire street sweepers and sanitary workers
to augment other collection methods.
▪ They use wheelbarrows and brooms to collect solid waste from
small heaps and dustbins, then store it in formal and informal
depots.
 Existing Solid Waste
Management System in
Pakistan
• Karachi, Pakistan’s largest
city, utilizes three sanitary
landfill sites, while Lahore,
the country’s second-largest
city, has two.
• Other major cities plan to
build proper landfill sites.
• In many areas, solid waste is
simply dumped outside the
city limits.
• Solid waste management
capabilities and systems vary
by province.
Existing Solid Waste
Management System in
Pakistan

• In Punjab, Lahore is the

only city with a proper
solid waste
management,
treatment, and disposal
system, which was
outsourced to Turkish
companies Albayrak and
OzPak.
• Similar systems are
planned for secondary
cities in Punjab province.
 Existing Solid Waste Management
System in Pakistan
▪ In Sindh, the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Infrastructure
and Service Delivery Reform Program has provided $400
million (in 2019) to the Sindh Cities Improvement Investment
Program (SCIP), which aims to improve solid waste
management services in 20 secondary cities and has issued
tenders for a wide range of waste management projects.

▪ In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Water and Sanitation Services

Peshawar (WSSP) is planning to build a sanitary landfill.

▪ Baluchistan, with a population of 6.9 million, has no significant

infrastructure for waste management system.
 Leachate
• The liquid that results
when substances from
the trash dissolve in
water as rainwater
percolates downward.
• Methane
– Highly flammable gas
– Pumped out of landfills and used for fuel
– May seep into the ground
– If ignited, it can cause explosions
• Organic waste decomposes where there is no
oxygen and produces methane
 Benefits & Costs of Landfills
Benefits
Decomposition yields methane, which
can be used like natural gas.
When full, landfills are capped. The land
can be used for recreation.
Costs
Leachate may eventually escape and
contaminate the groundwater.
Trash decomposes very slowly.
Few communities are willing to host
landfills (NIMBY).
A power company in Hull,
Massachusetts installed a large wind
turbine on a site that had previously
been a landfill.
• Difficulties
– Finding acceptable places to build landfills
• Far enough away from residents, close enough to the
city producing the waste
– Increase cost with new safeguards
PAKKISTAN WASTE GETS SECOND LIFE
 Incinerators
• A controlled process in which mixed garbage is
burned at very high temperatures.
– Pollution control removes most pollutants from
emissions.
– Burnable vs. Nonburnable waste is NOT separated
– Reduces weight of waste by 90%
– Reduces volume of waste by 75%
• Ashes are taken to landfill and occupy less space
 Benefits & Cost of Incineration
Benefits Costs
Incinerating waste reduces its weight by up Toxic ash must be disposed of.
to 75% and volume by up to 90%.

Heat from burning trash can be used to Dioxins, heavy metals, and PCBs
generate electricity (waste-to-energy). can be created and released by
burning waste.

Toxic Substances Control Act

Incinerator
The only U.S. facility permitted to
burn certain hazardous wastes
Minimizing Solid Waste
We Can Cut Solid Wastes by Reducing,
Reusing, and Recycling
▪ Waste reduction is based on
• Reduce
• Reuse
• Recycle
 Waste Reduction
▪ Seven strategies:
(1) Redesign manufacturing
processes and products to use
less material and energy
(2) Redesign manufacturing
processes to produce less
waste and pollution
(3) Develop products that are (5) Use fee-per-bag waste
easy to repair, reuse, collection systems
remanufacture, compost, or (6) Establish cradle-to grave
recycle responsibility
(4) Eliminate or reduce (7) Restructure urban
unnecessary packaging transportation systems
REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE
• Biodegradable Materials
– Can be broken down by biological
processes
• Natural materials
• Plant/ animal waste
• Newspaper
• Cotton fibers

• Non-biodegradable Materials
– Cannot be broken down by natural
processes
• Plastic
• Nylon
• Polyester
 Problems with Plastics
• Made from petroleum and natural gas
• Made of hydrogen/carbon (hydrocarbons)
• Hydrocarbon chains not found in nature, so
they can last for hundreds of years without
breaking down
 Waste Recovery:
Composting
• Conversion of organic waste into mulch or humus by decomposition
• Currently 3800 municipal programs in the U.S.
• Has many benefits, including soil enrichment
 Composting
• Yard waste accounts for 12.9%
and food scraps make up
12.4% of the municipal solid
waste in the United States
• Does not have to go to the
landfill because they are
biodegradable
• Process of Composting
– 1) Put yard and food scraps in a
closed container
– 2) Let it sit and mix occasionally
– 3) Spread on gardens or fields to
enrich soil
COMPOSTING
 Benefits of Composting
• Keeps organic waste out of landfills
• Provides nutrients to the soil
• Reduces the need for chemical-based fertilizers
• Increases beneficial soil organisms, like worms,
centipedes
 Waste Recovery:
Recycling
• Collection and reprocessing of waste materials
• Recycling rates among U.S. communities vary from 5 to 50%.
• Many programs run at a
financial loss, but that
doesn’t take into account
the effects of not recycling.
• Material Recovery Facilities
• Recyclables are
collected and cleaned
for reuse.
 Recycling
• Making products from recycled materials
usually saves energy, water and other
resources
• 95% less energy is needed to produce
aluminum from recycled aluminum from ore
• 75% less energy is needed to make steel from
scrap than ore
• 70% less energy is needed to make paper from
recycled paper
Hazardous Waste
 What is Hazardous Waste?
• Ignitable: Can catch fire
• Corrosive: Can damage or destroy metals
• Reactive: Chemically unstable; can explode or produce
fumes when combined with water
• Toxic: Harmful or fatal when inhaled, ingested, or touched
 Sources of Hazardous Waste
• Industries produce the most hazardous waste, but it is
usually highly regulated.
• Household hazardous waste is unregulated.
– Paint
– Batteries
– Oil
– Solvents
– Cleaning
– Pesticides
 Types of Hazardous Waste
• Organic compounds: Can act
as mutagens, carcinogens,
teratogens, and endocrine
disruptors
• Heavy metals: Many cause
neurological damage over
time.
• Lead, Mercury, Arsenic, Copper
• E-waste: Contains heavy
metals and toxic chemicals,
but mostly treated as
conventional solid waste
 Hazardous Waste Disposal
• Landfills: Specifically
designed to keep hazardous
waste contained
• Most common
• Surface impoundment:
Liquid waste poured into
shallow lined pits; water
evaporates and solid waste
is transported elsewhere
• Deep-well injection (see
diagram on right): Wastes
injected into deep, confined
porous rock layers
 Radioactive Waste
• Waste that gives off harmful radiation
• Low-level: Less harmful; produced by hospitals, labs, uranium mines
• High-level: More harmful; produced by nuclear power plants
• Difficult to dispose of safely due to long half-lives
 Hazardous Waste Regulation
• Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
(RCRA): Sets standards for hazardous waste
management by states; requires industry to track
hazardous material “cradle to grave”

• Comprehensive Environmental Response

Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), or
“Superfund” Act:
– Federal program for cleaning up sites polluted by
hazardous waste; culprits held liable for damage
caused by their pollution
 Cradle-to-Grave
Concept
• Cradle – the point of generation.
Those that generate the hazardous waste are
ultimately responsible for it.
• Grave – the point of treatment, storage, or
disposal
• The Manifest is the tracking sheet for the
location and amount of waste.
• A hazardous waste manifest sheet is shown
• Manifest
• Generators must attach manifest to
shipments.
• Designed to ensure that wastes are directed
to, and actually reach, a permitted disposal
site.
Waste and Plastics in
Pakistan