Integrating Recycling and Disposal System for Solid Waste Management in Karachi

It is estimated that the city of Karachi generates 6,000 tonnes of solid waste every day. Of this 600 tonnes of recycleable waste per day is separated at source by housewives, domestic servants, market employees and sold to itinerant waste buyers who then resell this to the recycling industry. The rest of the waste finds its way to neighbourhood collection points or katchra kundis as they are called, from where it is supposed to be collected by the five District Municipal Councils (DMCs) of Karachi and transported to the Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC) landfill site. However, this does not happen. About 1,400 tonnes of waste per day is picked by street pickers from the katchra kundis, taken to open spaces or under the bridges within the city, where dealers buy it from the pickers, sort it out and then sell it directly to the recycling industry or to special dealers who then sell it further. Most of this recycling industry is located within the city although some of the recycleable waste is also exported to the Punjab for recycling.

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