It is nice o note that the authorities are planning to implement a new waste policy to produce biogas and organic fertilisers from solid wastes. Housing and Public Works Minister Mosharraf Hossain while addressing a programme on the occasion of the World Habitat Day in the city on Monday said this. Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) and National Housing Authority (NHA) have incorporated the policy in their housing planning.
The urban wastes usually are disposed of untreated in open dumps in Bangladesh. This causes serious environmental and health problems due to the presence of contaminants and pathogens. All the composts will have suitable agronomic properties for their use as organic fertilisers and biogas. This reflects the viability of the proposed alternative to be scaled-up in developing areas, not only to manage and recycle urban waste fluxes, but also to obtain organic fertilizers and biogas, including added value in economic terms related to nutrient contents.
The increasing generation of food waste and its management constitute a major concern. Hundreds of tonnes of food, mainly coming from homes but also from food markets, are wasted annually. The proposed strategy for the management and recycling of food market waste streams by co-composting with gardening pruning wastes have shown their feasibility in terms of organic matter mineralization, obtaining composts with suitable characteristics for their agricultural use.
More than 80 per cent of municipal solid waste is dumped into environment due to the lack of an efficient waste management strategy. City corporations and municipalities, which are responsible to manage wastes, dump their solid wastes beside roads or streets in unscientific ways.
It is possible to turn solid wastes into resources. So, the authorities concerned will take the initiative to produce biogas and organic fertilisers from solid wastes in urban areas. The NHA has started to set up a sewerage treatment plant at its Mirpur Swapna Nagar residential project to manage solid wastes. Biogas and organic fertilisers will be produced through this project after separating household solid wastes. Besides, RAJUK has also initiated similar plans for the Uttara apartment project, Jhilmil apartment project and Purbachal. Considering all the environmental and economic issues related to waste management the proposed alternative should be scaled-up to reduce and diversify the urban waste streams, producing high quality and balanced organic fertilizers, with a significant economic value. What is needed is creation of awareness to preserve wastes in urban areas to produce biogas and organic fertilisers.