Solid Waste Recycling: Sustainability Issues in Dhaka City

The main objectives of this paper are to understand the nature of recyclable materials, the demand for these materials in the local market, business trends, and show how to maintain sustainable livelihoods in the context of Dhaka city – the capital of Bangladesh. This paper also emphasizes the contribution of the informal recycling sector to the national economy and provides some policy recommendations. Improper solid waste management in major cities such as Dhaka is harming human health and causing economic, environmental, and biological losses. The data used in this study is primary data through a face to face interview by using stratified random sampling survey carried out on 400 recyclers in Dhaka city between the months of September and November 2015. A pre-test was conducted on 30 petty recyclers in Demra Thana which was chosen because it is the site of government-approved landfill. Logistic regression model has been employed to determine the indicators of respondents probability of being poor regarding recycling. As expected, age was positive and highly significant at the 5% level,and training program and items category were also positive and significant at the 5% level. These results imply that if recyclers are to diversify their income sources by participating in non-scavenging activities, their probability of being poor will decrease. Training increases the skills of the scavengers, enhances their scavenging efficiency, and makes them more conscious of their health and the environment. The findings of this study imply that promoting organized and systematic waste management activities, planned, monitored, and supported waste-picking activities can be a viable option for reducing poverty among the urban poor.