Household solid waste management in a recently established municipality of Bangladesh: Prevailing practices, residents’ perceptions, attitude and awareness

Abstract

Increasing population, economic activities, and the associated factors put a serious strain on municipal solid waste management in developing nations. We assessed the amount of solid waste generated and elucidated the existing management practices at household level in Mymensingh City Corporation, Bangladesh. We also investigated residents’ perceptions and attitudes on waste management and their awareness on waste-induced health and environmental problems. Data were gathered by a questionnaire survey of 352 households and two key informants’ interviews. The Kruskal-Wallis H and Pearson Chi-Squared tests were used for statistical analysis. Results show that a household generated about 0.62 kg of waste per day of which 99% was organic. Following the door-to-door approach, the city corporation collects unsegregated waste. More than 50% of the households reused fresh food waste as green fertilizer, and either reused or sold paper, metal, and plastic waste. Small, higher-income, and educated households generated higher amounts of organic waste than their counterparts. Respondents were satisfied with the existing door-to-door waste collection system, like to use of bioenergy and organic fertilizer, and were willing to pay for sustainable and eco-friendly waste management. More than 80% of respondents were aware of public health and environmental issues caused by waste mismanagement. The corporation has a plan to establish an energy and compost plant for which we suggest providing incentives for source segregation and designated bins to households. The city planners can take the findings of this study as useful baseline information for planning sustainable municipal solid waste management.