| dc.description.abstract | The research is devised on two themes as; describe and compare solid waste management
practices in Lahore (Pakistan) and Oslo (Norway). Solid Waste Management (SWM) is an
important technique in the present times which works on the philosophy of Reuse, Reduce and
Recycle and helps in containment of various environmental problems.
In the developing countries waste contamination has become an important problem. My prime
motive to select Lahore was due to the nature of environmental contamination leading to nondisposal
of solid waste. The study is aimed to take cognizance of successful waste management
practices in Oslo and its replication in Lahore. However, in Oslo solid waste management has
been defined scientifically at three levels; generation; collection; treatment. Waste management
has been practised in Oslo since a decade and has created a benchmark for other cities to follow.
The methodology for research is premised on qualitative tools. The study is based on secondary
sources, for example published government reports, data and other relevant information from
official websites dealing with solid waste management. The secondary data sources in the case of
SWM have been able to provide a better understanding in the case of Lahore and Oslo and
provided us with a detailed insight into the progress and shortcoming in both cities. We may not
be able to draw commonalities on the operational front between Oslo and Lahore, but Lahore has
a lot to learn from the operations in Oslo. No doubt the number of population and quantity of
waste generated in Oslo is far less then Lahore but Oslo is recycling 33% of total waste and
strives to reach to more than 50 % until 2014. Besides, Lahore has recycled merely 21% of the
total generated waste. This is due to lack of technological facilities around 50% waste left over in
streets of Lahore, whereas Oslo solid waste management collection rate is almost 100%. In case
of Lahore, bio-degradable waste from one town is processed to convert fertilizer compared to the
rest of six towns, the rest of municipal waste is dumped in various dumping sites creating more
havoc to the human as well as animal species and ultimately harming the environment. Besides
in Oslo all municipal waste treated in an organized manner. In Oslo people feel confident to pay
for waste facilities because of awareness and knowledge and also due to higher socio-economic
norms, but in Lahore people are reluctant to accept rules because of poor knowledge, nonfunctional
corrupt institutions. The technical advancement of Oslo is a learning experience for
Lahore having said that the latter has to tread fathom miles in order to make their solid waste
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management functional. There are plethora of regulations at the federal level which impact the
management and disposal of municipal solid waste in Pakistan. But application of these laws is
still far from becoming a reality for the country. The lack of interest from government and local
bodies has hampered advancement of solid waste management as a practice. On the other side, in
Norway central government provides general instructions for law enforcement and the people at
municipality level are empowered to decide about making their surroundings a clean greener and
healthy place to live. Meanwhile, in Pakistan there are best of legislation in place to devise
mechanism for solid waste management but at the implementation stage across the country.
Lahore needs to inculcate the idea of providing environmental education at school level so that
when the young children grow up and enter local or federal decision making bodies they have
sensitivity towards conservation and sustainability of the environment. | no_NO |
