Municipal solid waste management is a concern of high priority for any city authority. Without proper management of this waste great problems may occur for society. Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, is a developing city. The population load and energy demand is increasing day by day. The city authority, Dhaka City Corporation (DCC), is responsible for managing the city’s solid waste.
In Dhaka city waste is collected from door to door then put into dustbins and finally transported and dumped in the landfill sites. This unplanned waste management system creates environmental problems, such as water pollution and metal contamination, as well as social and health problems, for example skin diseases, headache, vomiting, and increases in mosquitoes, flies, and bad odour. Since the generated waste has more than 50% organic content, it can be a good source for energy generation.
New technological solutions and a systematic approach can be a great option for management of waste. In Dhaka City Corporation Area this study addresses anaerobic digestion as a new option for energy generation. Among various types of existing technologies based on the climatic factor, waste stream, social and cultural factors, and environmental factors, the anaerobic treatment method is considered the best possible alternative method. The environmental system analysis tool, cost benefit analysis, is used in combination with the technology for determining the suitability of the system.
By analysing technological treatment methods and environmental system analysis tools, comparisons are conducted between the present situation and a proposed scenario. The comparisons were conducted based on various considerations, such as net present benefit of total life time, net present benefit considering only economic value, net present benefit considering economic value including environmental and social value, and so on. In all cases, values for the proposed project show positive outcomes and for the present scenario they show negative ones. By analysing an environmental system analysis approach of anaerobic digestion of proposed project, it can be considered as a beneficial project for the DCC authority from environmental, social, and economic points of view.