The Action Plan created by Dr. Rai Qamar-Uz Zaman aims to provide a safe and clean environment for Faisalabad through a massive domestic waste segregation campaign.

1. The City

Faisalabad is a relatively new city, planted in what was an unproductive arid wetland, when the British colonial government dug a canal from the Chenab River, part of the great Indus complex, into the area at the end of the 19th century and created a rich agricultural land. With cotton production throughout the area, Faisalabad became known as the Manchester of Pakistan for its extensive cotton textile production. The area’s cotton is especially pure and white and takes dyes better than most, bringing premium prices on the world market. From relatively small beginnings, the city grew rapidly after the partition brought many Muslims from India to Pakistan. The large textile industry and other specialized activities give the town a somewhat patched character, with different agencies having jurisdiction over different areas. For solid waste management, this means that the city administration is responsible only for domestic wastes; industrial wastes are taken care of by the industries themselves. 

The city has a large administrative area of 1.4 million acres, only 47% of which is the city proper. The total population of 6.5 million is reduced to only 2.6 million in the city proper. It is for this 2.6 million that the city manages domestic wastes, which amount to some 1,315 tons per day. This implies a total of approximately 0.18 MT per capita per year, one of the lowest of all AUICK’s Associate Cities. 

This comparatively low level is explained in part by the exclusion of industrial wastes, and by the lower total wealth of Pakistan and Faisalabad. Of the 1,315 tons of waste daily only some 900 tons is transported to the landfill. The rest moves into the informal recycling market. The waste management is controlled by a staff of just over 3,500 persons, over 3,200 of whom are local level sanitary workers. 

Door to door collection is made by tricycle garbage bins, which are able to navigate the narrow lanes and paths that make up much of the city. Large trucks are used to transport the waste to landfills, and heavy duty street sweeping machines are used to keep the major roads clean. 

The city has a system of local governance through 289 union councils, which are responsible for a wide variety of activities, including managing the day to day activities of door to door waste collection. Through these councils, the city government has organized education and awareness campaigns to work toward separating garbage, promoting recycling and keeping streets and lanes clean. 

Door-to-door awareness raising on waste management

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1. The Proposed Action Plan

Under the Action Plan of Dr. Rai Qamar-Uz Zaman, a strictly enforced system of waste segregation and door to door collection will be introduced, covering 400,000 people in 1,500 to 2,500 households in 16 of the city’s 113 union councils. 

Houses will be numbered and provided with 3 types of plastic bag (later purchased by households). One bag will be for paper and cardboard, the second for plastic, glass and bottles, and the third for kitchen and food waste. 

The public will take the segregated waste to four special containers in each union council for collection. Two-colored dustbins will be placed in shopping areas for organic waste and inorganic waste. For collecting points, four special containers will be put in each union council. 

The system, implemented by especially assigned sanitary workers (one for every 150 households), will lead to increased recycling of waste and reduced environmental damage. Scavengers will be allowed to segregate the waste at collecting points for recycling, and the remaining waste will be sent to dumping sites daily by container trucks. As in the city of Surabaya, small composting plants will be launched for organic waste in the union councils. 

To increase public awareness of this plan, information will be disseminated in newspapers, leaflets and brochures, and by local cable networks. Awareness officers and social mobilizers will meet with volunteer workers and householders of union councils, to arrange the plan’s implementation. Local political leaders, NGOs, students and the relevant government departments will also be involved in the campaign. 

The waste collection will be funded by the New Urban Unit Project, and with budgetary approval, a sanitary landfill site will be developed with technical cooperation from experts of the Agriculture University of Faisalabad. 

Vital to the success of the plan are responsibility and strong commitment on the part of the city district government. With community involvement, the plan will create 16 model union councils of increased citizen responsibility and improved waste management.

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Faisalabad Action Plan Time Frame: June 2008 - December 2009

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