Governance and Garbage: Tracing Dhaka’s Solid Waste Regime Over Five Decades

A comprehensive study conducted by the Department of Geography at the University of Manchester investigates how Dhaka, one of the fastest-growing megacities in the Global South, has managed its mounting municipal solid waste (MSW) challenge over the past fifty years. Utilizing the theoretical framework of Gille’s “waste regime” concept, the research offers a granular, qualitative account of policy transitions, infrastructural evolution, and the socio-political dynamics of waste management. The team, led by Shahana Akther, James Evans, and Nate Millington, conducted 68 in-depth interviews and numerous focus group discussions with stakeholders ranging from waste collectors and community members to policymakers and environmental NGOs. Their findings map a historical shift through three distinct governance regimes: from rudimentary waste collection to more centralized, and eventually semi-technocratic, disposal systems.

From Chaos to Coordination: The Early Years of Waste Governance (1972–2002)

After independence in 1971, Dhaka rapidly expanded, bringing with it a tidal wave of unregulated waste. The city’s initial response, labeled the “management planning regime,” was ad hoc and heavily under-resourced. Waste was dumped openly on roadsides, in drains, and vacant plots, with little effort toward recycling or landfill planning. The first landfill, Matuail, was opened only in 1989 and operated as an open dump. Community-based organizations (CBOs) and NGOs stepped in to offer door-to-door collection in wealthier neighborhoods, a service later formalized through a 2002 government-approved licensing system for Primary Waste Collection Service Providers (PWCSPs). Still, marginalized settlements and slums remained outside the system’s reach. Informal waste pickers, mostly women and children, sorted through these dumps to retrieve recyclables, forming an unrecognized yet essential layer of the system. While some policy interventions were introduced, including the 1992 National Environment Policy and a 2002 ban on plastic bags, enforcement was weak and implementation inconsistent. Recycling remained entirely informal, and waste continued to pile up in plain sight.

Political Pressure and Donor Influence: Towards a Centralized System (2003–2011)

As Dhaka’s population continued to swell and the health impact of uncollected waste intensified, the government faced mounting pressure both locally and globally. Dengue and diarrhoea outbreaks in the early 2000s served as wake-up calls. Donor agencies such as JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) and the Asian Development Bank stepped in with financial and technical assistance. The Clean Dhaka Master Plan (2005–2015) laid out a structured approach involving improved infrastructure, new landfills, and the construction of Secondary Transfer Stations (STSs) to replace open dump sites. The Solid Waste Management Department was established in 2008 to oversee waste operations. Despite these developments, waste pickers continued to serve a vital but unacknowledged role in resource recovery. Policies promoting composting and recycling, such as the 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) strategy introduced in 2010, struggled to gain traction due to limited political will and a lack of institutional coordination. The city’s division into Dhaka North and Dhaka South in 2011 was another administrative attempt to improve service delivery, but it created new challenges in harmonizing efforts across jurisdictions.

Clean City Dreams and Waste-to-Energy Ambitions (2012–2022)

In the most recent regime, termed the “controlled to sanitary disposal” phase, Dhaka’s MSW governance became more complex and politically sensitive. Rising land prices, increasing volumes of waste, and a more vocal public led city authorities to formalize primary waste collection services further. In 2021, Bangladesh introduced its first dedicated legal framework for solid waste, the Solid Waste Management Rules, emphasizing energy generation and stricter enforcement of the 3R strategy. JICA followed with a new Clean Dhaka Master Plan (2018–2032), envisioning an “Environmentally Advanced City.” In tandem, local governments signed contracts with foreign firms to build incineration-based waste-to-energy plants at Amin Bazar and Matuail, aimed at processing 3,000 tons of mixed waste daily. However, critics warn that these high-tech fixes may be mismatched to Dhaka’s predominantly organic waste and could marginalize the informal recyclers who handle up to 25% of the city’s solid waste. With no system for source segregation and limited infrastructure for composting or recycling, such centralized solutions risk creating more problems than they solve.

Informal Workers, Formal Gaps: The Politics of Exclusion

While formal infrastructure improved over the decades, informal systems remained the backbone of Dhaka’s waste recovery efforts. Waste pickers and recyclers operate under hazardous conditions with no legal protections, yet their contributions remain vital. NGOs have played a significant role in bridging service gaps in slum areas, where official city services remain patchy. Despite policy frameworks that mention community involvement and the circular economy, meaningful integration of informal workers is still lacking. Politically connected groups have even competed for control over waste collection zones, turning MSW into a contested business. Tendering processes introduced to formalize PWCSPs have been met with skepticism and allegations of corruption, further complicating governance dynamics.

Toward Inclusive and Sustainable Waste Governance

The study concludes that Dhaka’s waste management improvements, though significant, are incomplete without integrated strategies that include both formal and informal actors. Decentralized, participatory governance at the community level, paired with effective policy enforcement and local stakeholder engagement, offers a more realistic and sustainable path forward. With donor support now shifting away from landfill development toward resource recovery and circular economy models, Dhaka must align its policies and practices with these global trends. The researchers argue that future success will depend not just on technological fixes, but on political will, institutional capacity, and the empowerment of local communities who continue to bear the brunt of the city’s waste crisis.