Prospect of Climate Mitigation by Integrated Solid Waste Management: A Case Study of Khulna City, Bangladesh

Abstract

Municipal solid waste (MSW) is considered as one of the significant sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission that contributes to global climate change. Waste sector is accountable for 5% of the global GHG emission, which consists of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emission. At present, about 3 billion world urban population generate 1.3 billion tons of MSW per year at the rate of 1.2 kg per capita per day. By 2025, the urban population will likely increase to 4.3 billion and will generate 2.2 billion tons of MSW per year at the rate of about 1.42 kg per capita per day. Integrated solid waste management (ISWM) is a system that considers the prevention and recycling of wastes in most effective way for the protection of human health and environment. Under the ISWM, most appropriate and suitable waste management technologies are selected based on the evaluation of local needs and local environmental conditions towards reducing energy consumption, GHG emissions and carbon storage. Khulna is one of the topmost climate vulnerable coastal cities in the world. The area of Khulna City is 45.65 km2, where more than 1.5 million people live. About 520 tons of MSW is produced per day in Khulna City. Nearly 79% of the produced waste is organic in nature. The city has its own waste management system including door-to-door (DtD) waste collection and dumping into the ultimate disposal or landfill sites. The study estimates that the anaerobic digestion of organic waste and recycling together can reduce the emission of 19,588 tons CO2 equivalent and composting with recycling can reduce 22,838 tons CO2 equivalent per year in Khulna City. The paper highlights the existing solid waste management system in Khulna City with the prospect of ISWM system for climate mitigation of Khulna City.