Project Name: Solid Waste Management in Rural Rajshahi

Update: Phase A (Baseline and Mobilization) of our project has been successfully completed.

•  Community meetings with Union Parishads, market committees, and local leaders have been held in Bagmara, Godagari, and Paba upazilas
• Baseline surveys on household and market waste generation have been conducted.
• Potential sites for composting and waste transfer have been identified.
•  Community volunteers and local youth groups have been engaged.

With phase A completed, we are now moving into Phase B: Pilot Design and system planning.

The rural areas of Bangladesh are inhabited by around 130 million individuals [According to the World Bank, in 2022, 60% of the total population live in rural areas (The World Bank open data). The degradation of the natural environment is a significant consequence of inadequate waste management practices resulting from the activities of a population of over 130 million individuals (MoLGRD, 2022). Rural market and surrounding areas significantly contribute to environmental pollution. The pollution of rivers and canals in urban areas has also resulted in the contamination of water bodies in rural regions.

In rural areas, this waste often includes agricultural residue, livestock manure, and organic materials.

The situation is complicated by increasing waste generation, diverse waste composition, inadequate infrastructure, and logistical difficulties posed by dispersed populations and challenging terrain.

Limited financial resources, lack of awareness, weak regulation enforcement, and insufficient government support further hinder effective waste management, leading to environmental degradation and health risks.

Sanitary landfills and incineration are the dominant rural solid waste disposal and treatment technologies used in many areas. Consequently,  improper waste disposal practices lead to environmental degradation and health risks, highlighting the need for a comprehensive approach that includes infrastructure investment, community education, policy support, and tailored waste management models.

Segregation of solid waste at the source is therefore an essential step in improving rural solid waste management. To optimize segregation, rural solid waste should be classified into at least five types: food or kitchen waste, recyclable waste, hazardous waste, residues, and other general waste.

Our research found that  the ratio of solid waste generation to recyclable waste is directly proportional to residents’ per capita disposable income.

For rural solid waste management to be effective and sustainable, the management approach and technology used must be adapted to the local conditions. There is no one-size-fits-all solution for rural solid waste management.

A suitable waste management technology model must be selected based on several factors—e.g., waste components and characteristics, waste segregation at source, population distribution of villages and towns, climate, geographical features, economic conditions, affordability of technology, and agriculture industry needs.

To optimize segregation, rural solid waste should be classified into at least five types: food or kitchen waste, recyclable waste, hazardous waste, residues, and other general waste.

Table. Trends of SWM in the rural areas of Bangladesh

Major Area	Citizens participation		No.	Percentage	Decision
Management practice	1.House owners disposed of their waste by themselves in their own way.		26	83.9	Dominant
	2. In some cases, neighbors or a group of citizens used the same place for waste dumping		5	16.1	Rare
Dumping Process	3. Waste is	(a) buried in the soil	13	41.9	Commanding
		(b) makes a hole and dumped there	17	54.8	Dominant
		(c) sometimes, waste is burned	1	3.3	Rare
Dumping place	4.Naturally, citizens disposed of waste	(a) in their backyard	13	41.9	Commanding
		(b) in low/shallow land	15	48.4	Dominant
		(c) in open space, or pond/ river	3	9.7	Rare
waste Reuse / Utilization	5. (a) Some citizens make compost with their waste.		3	9.7	Organic household waste
	(b) Presence of the informal sector for waste recycling		22	71	Others household waste

Project Plan

Target areas:

SJSJ is operating this project in three upazilas in Rajshahi District: Paba, Bagmara and Godagari (All are substantial rural upazilas with large populations, mixed agriculture/market areas and many unions — good for testing decentralized, community-based approaches).

Why these three:

               •             Paba — large population (≈314k), active markets along the Padma; good for collecting food & market waste and piloting riverbank-safe disposal/reuse.

               •             Bagmara — high population and many unions; good mix of households + agricultural waste producers (crop residues, livestock). 

               •             Godagari — larger area with agricultural landscape (crop residues, livestock waste) where on-farm composting/biogas can be piloted alongside community collection. 

2) Evidence-based context to shape interventions

               •             In Bangladeshi cities and towns, ~70–75% of MSW is organic (food/vegetable) waste, so composting/anaerobic digestion are high-impact treatments. This makes decentralized composting or biogas an appropriate priority in rural Rajshahi too. 

               •             Community-based, small/medium compost plants (1–12 t/day) have been successfully implemented in Bangladesh (Waste Concern and partners) and often achieved financial viability when compost marketing + local demand were arranged. Example: small fixed-cost plants and low operating costs have been reported for local-scale plants.

3) Implementation plan (12–18 month pilot program, per upazila)

Overview: run 3 parallel pilots (one in each upazila). Each pilot has 4 phases: Assess → Design → Implement → Scale / Handover.

Phase A — Month 0–2: Mobilize & baseline (Completed)

               •             Stakeholder meeting with Upazila Parishad, Union Parishads, local Market Committees, agriculture extension, NGOs, farmer groups, and local school/mahalla leaders.

               •             Rapid baseline survey (1–2 weeks per upazila): households, market waste generators, shops, livestock farms; baseline waste generation & composition sampling at 10–15 sites (market + household clusters).

               •             Map existing informal recycling actors (rag-pickers, recyclers) and available land for composting/transfer.

Deliverables: stakeholder map, baseline waste composition (% organic, plastic, paper), short report.

KPIs: baseline completed; stakeholder agreement to pilot.

Phase B — Month 2–5: Design pilot systems (Ongoing)

               •             We have selected 1–2 unions per upazila for the pilot (pop: ~3k–10k households per union depending on scale).

               •             System design choices:

               1.            Segregation at source: 2-bag system (wet organics / dry recyclables). Training and 1–week trial distribution of low-cost household bins/bags.

               2.            Door-step collection: local micro-enterprises (push carts / rickshaw-vans). 2–3 routes per pilot union.

               3.            Treatment: community decentralized composting unit (1–3 t/day capacity) + small biogas unit (for market/animal waste) at commune level. For areas with strong market/eradicated compost demand, consider larger compost capacity.  

               4.            Recyclables: aggregation point and link to recycling buyer network.

               •             Prepare O&M manual, training materials for workers and community.

Deliverables: pilot design, equipment list, operator training plan.

Phase C — Month 4–11: Implement & operate pilot

               •             Procure low-cost equipment: handcarts/rickshaw-vans, 2-bag household kits, community bins, composting pads or windrow trenches, shredders if budget allows. (Local fabrication reduces cost.)

               •             Recruit & train micro-enterprise collectors; hire 4–8 local workers for compost site operation (depending on capacity). campaign (door-to-door, markets, mosques/temples, schools). Use local leaders to enforce segregation days.

• Run community awareness campaign (door-to-door, markets, mosques/temples, schools). Use local leaders to enforce segregation days.

               •             Start collection → treatment operations; monitor weekly for collection coverage, tons collected, compost produced, contamination rates.

KPIs: collection coverage %, tons organics diverted, compost quantity & quality, number of households participating.

Phase D — Month 12–18: Evaluate & scale

               •             Evaluate results vs baseline (collection coverage, reduction in illegal dumping, income from sale of compost/recyclables, stakeholder satisfaction).

               •             If viable, prepare plan to scale to remaining unions: replication manual, local financing (user-fees + Upazila support + micro-enterprise revenue share), governance arrangement (Union-level committee).

Deliverables: evaluation report & scale-up plan.

4) Technical options +  mix (rural-appropriate)

               •             Segregation at source — simplest, highest impact. Two bins/bags for organic vs dry recyclables.

               •             Decentralized composting (windrow or raised-bed aerobic compost) — low-cost, appropriate for food & market waste and crop residues mixed with manure. Community plants (1–3 t/day) are proven in Bangladesh. Sell/market compost to local farmers and vegetable growers.  

               •             Small-scale anaerobic digesters (biogas) — suitable at market clusters or cluster of livestock farms to produce cooking gas and bio-slurry (fertilizer). Works well where market stalls / animal waste are concentrated.

               •             Recyclable aggregation — buy-back points for plastic, metal, cardboard; link to regional recyclers.

               •             Farm-level use of crop residue — promote mulching, on-farm composting, or convert to biochar/pyrolysis if a later upgrade is desired. Global reviews recommend integrated crop-residue management to prevent burning. 

5) Governance / business model

               •             Public–community partnership: Upazila/Union provides land and initial co-funding; community micro-enterprises run day-to-day collection and compost site operations; revenue shares from compost sales and recyclable sales cover O&M. This model worked for Waste Concern projects in Bangladesh.  

               •             User-fee model (small): nominal monthly fee per household (e.g., very small local fee) + market fees for large generators; aim to recover O&M, not necessarily capital. Pilot will reveal WTP and ability to recover costs.

               •             Job creation: recruiting and training local youth/women as collectors and compost operators increases acceptance.

6) Monitoring & KPIs (measure monthly)

               •             Households participating (%) and collection coverage.

               •             Tons of organic waste collected per week and % diverted from dumping/burning.

               •             Compost produced (kg/month) and sold (kg/month) and price.

               •             Number of informal dumps closed / reduction in open burning incidents.

               •             Revenues from recyclables & compost vs O&M costs.

               •             Community satisfaction.

7) Risks & mitigation

               •             Low participation / contamination → strong behaviour-change campaign + penalties/incentives.

               •             Low compost demand / poor quality →To train operators on proper composting, shift to co-composting with manure, arrange off-take agreements with local farmers/agribusiness. 

               •             Finance shortfall → phased approach:To start extremely low-cost (household segregation + micro-enterprise collection) then add treatment once feedstock volumes are steady.

               1.            Convene an upazila-level stakeholder meeting (Upazila Nirbahi Officer + Union Chairpersons + market leaders + local NGOs).

               2.            Commission a rapid baseline (1–2 weeks) for selected pilot unions: households, markets, and agriculture sources — I can give a survey template.

               3.            Identify 0.2–0.5 acres of candidate land per pilot union for composting & transfer station (ideally community-owned).

               4.            Reach out to local composting experts (Waste Concern, local NGOs) for technical advice and possible partnership.

Agricultural Waste Management

Classification of Agricultural Waste

               •             Crop residues: straw, husk, stalks, leaves, shells.

               •             Animal waste: manure, dung, slaughter waste.

               •             Agro-industrial waste: sugarcane bagasse, rice bran, oilseed cake.

               •             Chemical waste: pesticides, fertilizers containers.

Methods of Agricultural Waste Management

(a) Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

               •             Use crop residues as mulch, fodder, or compost.

               •             Reuse water from washing and processing.

               •             Recycle nutrient-rich biomass into the soil.

(b) Composting

               •             Convert crop residues, manure, and organic waste into compost.

               •             Improves soil fertility, reduces need for chemical fertilizers.

(c) Biogas Production (Anaerobic Digestion)

               •             Cow dung, poultry waste, crop residues → produce biogas (cooking fuel, electricity).

               •             By-product (slurry) used as biofertilizer.

(d) Vermicomposting

               •             Earthworms break down organic waste into high-quality fertilizer.

               •             Useful for small farms.

(e) Biochar Production

               •             Crop residues burnt in controlled conditions (pyrolysis) → biochar.

               •             Improves soil quality, stores carbon (climate-friendly).

(f) Energy Recovery

               •             Use rice husk, bagasse, corn stalks, etc. for biomass power plants.

               •             Can provide rural electricity.

(g) Proper Handling of Hazardous Waste

               •             Safe disposal of pesticide and fertilizer containers.

               •             Use integrated pest management (IPM) to minimize chemicals.

3. Sustainable Practices in the Field

               •             Crop rotation and mulching reduce waste.

               •             Animal–crop integration (animal dung goes back to fields as manure).

               •             Agroforestry (trees + crops) to recycle biomass naturally.

Summary:

Agricultural waste should not be “thrown away” — it should be converted into compost, fertilizer, energy, or fodder. This reduces pollution, saves money, and makes farming more sustainable.