Environmental Issues

Waste managementis theHYPERLINK httpen.wikipedia.orgwikiWaste_collection o Waste collectioncollection,HYPERLINK httpen.wikipedia.orgwikiTransport o Transporttransport,HYPERLINK httpen.wikipedia.orgwikiWaste_treatment o Waste treatmentprocessing,HYPERLINK httpen.wikipedia.orgwikiRecycling o Recyclingrecyclingor disposal, and monitoring ofHYPERLINK httpen.wikipedia.orgwikiWaste o Wastewastematerials. It may involve the production of solids, liquids or gases that may harm the community and its surroundings whereas hazardous waste management may directly cause the production of radioactive and other toxic waste that may be more tedious to manage  (Waste Management, 2010). Waste management removal or prevention is different when you come across the developed and developing divide. Keeping this in mind, the case of Karachi, Pakistans waste management system would be the best to learn from in terms of the problems and solutions faced and rendered by a developing nation.

The core problem within the locales and communities of this buzzing town of over 10 million residents is an informal approach to recycling and a sub-par approach to waste removal techniques. Studies conducted for this purpose have all but failed to create a self-sustaining cycle due to the fat that none have been able to link themselves with the upcoming recycling industry in the country. They have not been able to engage some 21,000 waste disposal units or their contractors to work together efficiently. (Hasan, 2001)

Karachis Solid Waste Management System
A linkage needs to be created between Karachis waste management committee and the private recycling system. The method chosen in order to articulate the key issues faced is to take a survey of the landfill sites allocated to waste disposal, the allocated waste disposal sites for the communities, the machinery used in waste collection and removal (on site) and most importantly interviews with leading private sector recyclers. (Environmental Pollution Unit, 2007) There are numerous reasons as to why the current state of Karachis waste management system is either inadequate or simply non-existent. At the heart of the issues lies the problem with the Karachi Municipal Committee, which is in charge of the waste system, which has been inadequately funded to procure or to deliver the waste to the lacking landfill sites. Accompanying such issues are problems such as a lack of disposal sites for the urban communities, inexistence of such facilities for the rural population which disposes off waste by throwing it into the nearby drains, the ever increasing costs of transporting the waste including fuel, human resource and machinery costs and the inadequate training of the engineers and sweepers needed for proper waste disposal management. The lack of training and development of any facilities for the latter have also been compounded by the fact that the ratio of sweepers to every 1000 members of society has been steadily declining.

The crux of the new framework would be to integrate the workings of the KMC with the informal network along with the allocation of 4 massive landfill sites that would be at feasible distances for all transporters in the south and the east. A combined effort of the utilities of Karachi, electric, gas and heavy machinery would prove to support the frameworks construction. A streamlined process would take the waste from the different locales in Karachi to the landfill sites, where heavy machinery such as magnetic cranes would separate the metal from the non-metals and hence would leave the remaining waste to be scavenged by the informal network of kabaris. The once decentralized effort of waste removal, that caused many problems with the kabaris sifting through garbage before it was taken to landfill and leaving the nearby community with garbage all across their locales, will now be a process that involves much of the KMC staff and the informal network of kabaris to work together. Apart from the conceptualization of a framework, investment is needed to enhance the waste disposal and removal facilities within Karachi, with 367 vehicles being deployed to cover the numerous allocated waste disposal centers. (Hasan, 2001) Along with these modifications strict controls and key links must be forged with the private sector for the efficient usage and operations of the landfill sites and their own respective recycling plants. A core problem faced by the waste management system, by the informal sector, is the burning of the remainder of the waste in order to sift through the garbage for the more valuable metals to recycle. The burnt waste could be reused as raw materials for numerous industries such as the glass and plastic industries. (Hasan, 2001).

Conclusion
A system involving different towns Nazims (Towns Respective Mayors) and their subsequent community associations must be developed that allows for the deployment of a training and development system at the very core of the city. However this approach may not be suitable for the rural population. For the smaller locales at the outskirts of the towns, smaller vehicles for waste collection need to be employed with regular scheduled stops in order to keep those parts of the city involved in the process and in turn healthy and clean. Most of the industries dump freely by underhand dealings with the local authorities that degrade the system as well as the surrounding environment. The industrialists that dispose of hazardous waste need to be taken onboard this system and made responsible for their actions via stringent fines and subsequent criminal prosecution over the illegal dumping of any harmful pollutants. (Times, 2007)