Dhaka, Bangladesh

Consumption Patterns

The population of Bangladesh spends more than half of its income on food and beverages (54 percent), while only 12 percent is spent on housing and rent. Clothes and footwear, as well as fuel and electricity, both take about 6 percent of income. There has been a trend showing that the amount spent on housing is increasing sharply, both in urban and rural areas, while less money is spent on consumption goods.

With higher income, people also change their consumption patterns. With more money, the population consumes more expensive food, such as fish, chicken, and mutton, while their demand for wheat, potatoes, and eggs decreases. More consumption also means more waste. The use of packaging made out of plastic, such as plastic bags and water bottles, has become very popular among consumers, drastically increasing the amount of solid waste.

Waste Management

The capital of Dhaka is not capable of coping with all the garbage caused by its inhabitants. Solid waste management runs smoothly in rich and middle-class neighborhoods, as they have enough political influence to guarantee regular governmental service. Poor slum areas can hardly rely on organized waste management. The government fails to provide most of its citizens with this public good. The agency in charge, Dhaka City Corporations (DCC), covers about 224 square miles, but not all parts are serviced equally. Since the city is not able to provide all its inhabitants with reliable service, some neighborhoods have established their own form of solid waste management, which is based on mutual trust and reciprocity among neighbors. Usually, the garbage collection system in Dhaka involves regular pickups by municipal workers and the deposit of waste in large, centrally located dumpsters. Individual households [Page 186]dump their garbage in small dumpsters in the side streets of their neighborhoods. The municipal workers are responsible for collecting the garbage from these alleys within the neighborhoods and bringing it to the main dumpsters. This service has proven very unreliable, and DCC employees often do not come to collect the trash for weeks. Some neighborhoods have managed to find an alternative to the public system. They hired private contractors to regularly collect the garbage from the neighborhood, and they are paid by voluntary contributions from community members.

A fruit seller in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The population of Bangladesh spends more than half of its income on food and beverages. They are also spending their higher incomes on more expensive food as well as food with plastic packaging, increasing solid waste.

Since waste management must be organized collectively, neighborhoods established their own trash disposal committees. While this voluntary solid waste management works very well in some neighborhoods, other areas are not capable of organizing themselves. The ability of self-organization depends on the homogeneity of the community (same ethnic or religious background) and its social capital. Reciprocity is the key to functioning voluntary solid waste management, as it excludes free riders.

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