Title: Assessment of municipal solid waste management practices in Karachi City, Pakistan

Authors: Wasi Z. Khan; Vassilis Inglezakis; Shagufta Ishtiaque; Konstantinos Moustakas

Addresses: PMCIS, University of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad, West Indies ' PMCIS, University of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad, West Indies ' PMCIS, University of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad, West Indies ' PMCIS, University of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad, West Indies

Abstract: The data collected from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of Pakistan indicate that collection and disposal of municipal solid waste in the city of Karachi is underdeveloped. The studies conducted in 2012 showed the composition of solid waste is organics 47.2%, paper 15.9%, plastic 11.3%, bread 4.2%, bones 3.8%, metal 2.7%, glass 2.5%, textile 1.9%, wood 0.7%, and miscellaneous 9.8%. The city government collects only 48% of the total waste generated, of which 88% is disposed in dumping sites. This study aimed to assess the current practices of solid waste management in Karachi and suggests a quantitative approach to decision making obtained from decision support software (DSS) . The application of the DSS tool demonstrated that the landfilling of refuse-derived fuel/solid recovered fuel can be replaced by waste-to-energy options. The DSS tool can offer support for decision makers not only for planning process, but also for the assessment of adopted solutions.

Keywords: municipal solid waste; MSW; waste management strategy; decision support software; DSS; Karachi; Pakistan.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEWM.2019.101281

International Journal of Environment and Waste Management, 2019 Vol.24 No.2, pp.131 - 150

Accepted: 27 Nov 2018
Published online: 30 Jul 2019 *

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