Every day, 16-year-old Sher Khan, an Afghan refugee in Karachi, rises with the sun. He walks through the empty streets on an empty stomach rummaging through trash without a warrant, hoping to find something he can sell. He is an important agent in the recycling industry of Karachi, but possibly because of his refugee status, he receives little acknowledgment for his work.  

"I wouldn't be picking garbage if I had an NIC, but people refuse to offer us a job without one,» he says. "We get free food at a restaurant for doing this all day. The little money we earn goes towards feeding our family."  

Sher Khan is referring to his fellow refugees from Afghanistan, but Afghans are not the only ones benefitting from the recycling business. Research conducted by an NGO Gulbahao Trust shows that there are 400 recycling industry units in Karachi serving as a source of livelihood for more than 5,500 households, including private sweepers and scrap dealers (kabaryas) who cash in on dry garbage on a daily basis.  

"Everything is recycled, from fruit and vegetable peels to metal, paper, plastic and e-waste," says Syed Sajjad, a volunteer at Gulbahao Trust. The NGO was founded in the sixties by a concerned citizen, Nargis Latif, and encourages people to sell their dry garbage instead of burning it. Today, Latif has several volunteers like Sajjad dedicated to spreading awareness about the importance of recycling.

Out of sight, out of mind 

Thanks to Latif's efforts, not only did the kabarya business gradually evolve as an industry, but citizens have started to separate their recyclable waste for monetary gain.  

"I don't know what kabaryas do with the trash," admits Muhammad Yaseen, a resident of Lines Area in Jamshed Town. "I just tell my wife and children to separate newspapers and plastic bottles from our wet garbage so we can sell it and use the money to buy vegetables the next day."  

Like Yaseen, many are unaware that such behaviour is environment-friendly and do not care where their dry garbage ends up. Anwar, a scrap dealer in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, explains that all the waste he collects is sold at Shershah, the unofficial dumping site for recyclable goods. "I mostly deal in metals and e-waste," he says "It earns me good money."  

Anwar has a network of scrap-dealers who collect trash from streets, markets and households. He gives each vendor around Rs2,000 to Rs2,500 daily, and is not afraid of being cheated. "The less money the vendor spends and the more goods he brings, the more commissions he gets," says Anwar.

"Kachra do Sona lo" 

There was a time when Latif exchanged waste not for money but for pure 24-karat gold bars at her Garbage N Gold Bank. The idea failed when she received a poor response. "There was no government support," she recalls. "No one was willing to listen. My husband and I invested all our savings, but eventually ran out of cash." 

However, through her Gulbahao Safai-Kamai bank on Rashid Minhas Road, Latif has become part of the larger recycling industry, buying all kinds of dry waste to utilise it for meaningful purposes.  

"The wood we buy is often sold to bigger dealers at the timber marker in Godhran, New Karachi," says Sajjad. "Fruit and vegetable peels are dried for 24 hours and used as organic compost, and plastic bottles purify drinking water by being placed in sunlight."  

Meanwhile, torn plastic shopping bags and other clean garbage is compressed and made into Was-tic blocks as an alternate building material and portable furniture like chairs and cushions. In 2005, Gulbahao supplied these Was-tic blocks to build low-cost houses in remote earthquake-affected areas. 

"What we usually think is absolute waste actually isn't. Everything can be reused," insists Sajjad. "We want people to learn from our experience, use their minds, and save the environment. If they are too busy to make the effort, the least they can do is call us and sell their waste."  

Another pressure group, Citizens for a Clean Karachi, is also campaigning for an environment-friendly city. Using the 3R (Reduce-Reuse-Recycle) approach, they encourage the use of cloth bags and aim to do away with plastic and paper bags, promoting their ideas  through presentations and posters and pamphlets at schools and offices.

Haste makes waste 

But while NGOs continue to do their bit, the government pays scant attention to waste management, with no sustainable system to deal with the safe disposal or recycling of 8,000 tonnes of garbage generated in this city of 16 million.  

Recently, the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) awarded a 20-year contract to a Chinese firm to dispose of and recycle solid waste. The decision has been met with resistance by scrap dealers and the sanitary workers' union, as the arrival of the team, it was rumoured, would render around 11,000 local sanitary workers jobless and affect the business of the 400 recycling industry units.  

"I fail to understand why we need foreigners to manage local waste," says Fareed Awan, General Secretary Municipal Workers Trade Union Alliance on Solid Waste Management, CDGK.  

He argues that the government has exaggerated the figure of 8,000 tonnes – according to him, only 4,000 tonnes of garbage is actually produced daily. "This fact was verified by the Chinese team during their detailed survey of the city before they signed the contract," he adds.  

Awan feels that instead of making a hasty decision, the government should have consulted the workers' union for a local solution. "The millions of rupees the CDGK has invested in a foreign company could have been used to purchase modern equipment and train the local workforce," he suggests. 

However, Najeeb Ahmed, District Officer Solid Waste Management CDGK, says that the government was compelled to take on a foreign company because local sanitary workers failed to do their job.  

"Under the Sindh Local Government Ordinance 2001, collecting garbage from its source and dumping it at the Kachra Kundi is the responsibility of the town administration who have been provided with machinery for the purpose, but only a fraction of the garbage reaches the two designated landfill sites," he says. "The rest is disposed into the sea through storm water drains, or burnt at unofficial dumping sites." This can be witnessed in the open space adjacent to the Korangi Expressway near a nullah in Akhtar Colony, where garbage is burnt daily by the administration of Jamshed Town posing serious health and environmental hazards. 

Apart from incompetency, adds Ahmed, the CDGK fears that local workers are unable to run and maintain modern equipment. "With the arrival of the team, not only will the city wear a clean look, recyclable products would be better managed."  

But for likes of Sher Khan and Anwer, this is bad news. "In this age of inflation, waste is a source of extra income for the poor and in return we get cleaner streets. It would be unfair of the government to hand over the project to foreigners and rob locals of their livelihood," asserts Sajjad. "What is even more unfortunate," he continues "is that instead of regularising the recycling industry, the government looks at us 'businessmen' and refuses to cooperate."

-- Photos by Zahid Rahman & Naqeeb-ur-Rehman

When City Nazim Mustafa Kamal saw that the garbage-disposal system in place in the city was not adequate, it was realised that what the city needed was relevant modern equipment if it were ever to be clean again.

Two years back, the Nazim handed over this responsibility to all the 18 towns urging them to seek assistance of private contractors to lift garbage, but the system it proved to be a failure as most towns (Liaquatabad being the first) cancelled the contract saying the contractors were inefficient, ill-trained and the system "too expensive" as towns did not have the adequate budget to pay the contractors.

As a result, the only option left with the Nazim was to hire private solid waste experts from abroad, although none ever arrived in the city to introduce a better system. According to the City District Government Karachi (CDGK), nobody was prepared to come because of the degenerating law and order situation of Karachi.

This included the much-talked about Chinese firm Shanghai Shengong Environmental Protection Company hired to replace local sweepers. The firm was awarded a contract though an MoU. Along with cleaning the streets of Karachi, the firm was asked by the CDGK to establish eight garbage-filling stations in the city.  

However, the company backed out, claiming it was impossible to work in Karachi owing to the violence plaguing the city. Eventually, following efforts made by the Governor of Sindh, the company agreed to start work, although so far, nothing has started.  Consequently, the Chinese firm was issued a legal notice last month to explain the delay, but they have not responded yet, nor given a practical demonstration, Kolachi has learnt. 

Muhammad Ibrahim, 65, a resident of Lath Village, located in Bhains Colony, hangs his head in despair as he surveys the scene outside his house, situated next to the sea.

Every day, tons of cow dung mixed with chemicals and pesticides make their way into the sea, polluting both the water and all that surrounds it. Ibrahim, who is a fisherman by profession, says he cannot recall when he last fished in these waters as the marine life has been dead for a while now. "I am now worried about my children and livestock who are surrounded by this filth."

Interestingly enough, the answer to Ibrahim's problems lies a few kilometers away in the Shaukat Mukhtar Farm, Bhains Colony No 12. Here, a bio-gas plant functions silently, and converts four tonnes of manure to methane gas every day. This, in turn, produces 600 units of electricity and 200 cubic meters of gas.

The pilot project, which is the first of its kind in the country, may well change the living conditions in Bhains Colony, one of the largest cattle colonies in the region, housing over 400,000 cattle heads.

According to the project consultant, Naseem Aziz, "The plant was installed in the farm some six months ago by a British Company, HiRAD PLC. The gas produced by the plant is used to heat up around four houses of the farmers, dwelling in the locality. The same bio-gas is also used to produce electricity through a generator."

HiRAD says its system is quick, converting the manure produced in a day into power. It is typically installed to the farm's existing storage facilities with minimal disruption. It does not require an energy crop or external waste streams and its outputs all have a value.

The gas is used to produce electricity, the solid waste is composted and used as a soil treatment, and the liquid is a premium fertiliser, claims the company.

Giving details about the operation of the plant, Aziz explained that "the pump of the plant first mixes the cow dung with water. After the mixture is prepared, the solid waste is separated, and is later on used in the production of fertilisers. The dung and water mixture is then forwarded to a main reactor, where bacteria (aerobic digester) present in the dung produces methane when it is heated at 37`C. This very methane is then used to produce gas and electricity."

Shakeel Nasir, the man in charge of the operations, concurs. "The amount of methane produced by this method is 70.1 per cent whereas carbon dioxide 30 per cent." Nasir said that his is the only company in the country that produces methane in such large quantities. The farm utilizes the waste of 300-350 animals, efficiently and effectively, without posing a threat to the eco-system.

The company hopes to replicate this system with the 1,200 cattle pens and farms that are located in this colony. These farms simply dump around 8,000 tons of cow dung into open drains every day. Since no proper system prevails in the colony for disposal, the dung eventually reaches the Arabian Sea.

The potential of using this manure can be gauged from the dung lagoon located downstream of the farms where bacteria present in the dung produces methane under the open skies. No reactor is needed to provide heat to the bacteria, as the sun's heat is enough.

The question now is whether or not the project will be able to take off. Residents of the area, however, cannot wait for this to happen. "Due to the presence of the cow dung, our people have lost their livelihoods. Boats have rotted, fish in the nearby seas have died, the foul odour has infiltrated our environment and the area has been infested with flies and other insects," says Iqbal, a resident of Lath Village.

Though Iqbal and his community people have appealed to the government several times, there has been complete silence from the other end. With 2009 being declared as the Year of the Environment, several people's hopes are pinned on those with power – that they may be able to turn the tide for those living in Lath Village.

As the CDGK awaits foreign assistance, DHA and Clifton is content with its night sweeping system, using both manual and mechanical means. Azeem Samar reports

In a bid to clean up the area coming under the Defence Housing Authority (DHA), the DHA and the Cantonment Board Clifton (CBC) have mutually selected the Zamzama Commercial Area for a night-sweeping programme that started over a month ago.  

Every weekday from midnight to 2:00 a.m., two private conservancy contractors collect garbage from the streets of Zamzama, which normally remains abuzz with business and shopping activities until late in the evening.  

"We are using both manual and mechanical means to clear the Zamzama Commercial Area," says Lt Colonel (retd) Rafat Naqvi, DHA spokesman.  

Separate garbage collection and sweeping timings have been enforced for the residential and commercial areas of Zamzama. A sanitary worker from the CBC adds that the conservancy contractors are equipped with garbage collection trucks, debris units, and wheelbarrows. Shopkeepers and residents of the area cooperate by gathering all their garbage in plastic bags for it to be later collected by the conservancy workers.  

"Before the plan was introduced, shopkeepers and traders of the area were briefed about the utility of the sanitation strategy through a proper information campaign so they could lend their support," says the CBC sanitary worker.  

According to Shams Bhatti, President Zamzama Shops Association, the effort is praiseworthy. 

"An advantage of the night-sweeping plan is that it provides ample space for garbage trucks," he says. "During business hours, the phenomenal amount of parking makes it very difficult for them to enter."  

However, while Bhatti says that so far the level of sanitation is being maintained well, he feels that the CBC supervisors of the conservancy staff should keep a bigger check on the timely and efficient disposal of garbage.  

"The conservancy contractors at Zamzama should be monitored more strictly for the new cleanliness system to be properly implemented," insists Bhatti, who is also Vice-President Clifton Defence Market Association.  

Zeenat Ahmed, CBC Chief Executive Officer, maintains that the cleanliness system in Zamzama has been going on "very well", and that the area now had exemplary levels of sanitation. "After the sanitation scheme in Zamzama proves to be successful, it will be implemented in all areas of Defence and Clifton," she says.  

As Asad Kizilbash, General Secretary Association of Defence Residents (ADR) explains, the Zamzama area had been selected on a trial basis for the cleaning strategy that could eventually benefit all of DHA. "Adopting a new sanitation plan for a residential locality as large as the DHA would prove to be a very costly affair, which is why only one area was selected," he says.  

Kizilbash adds that a committee comprising female members of the ADR, along with residents and traders from the commercial area, has been formed to keep a check on the new cleanliness system in Zamzama. The committee is slated to submit a report to the ADR after reviewing the system to see if it can be implemented in all of DHA.  

"The Zamzama cleanliness strategy had been envisaged some three or four months ago, but even though it has now been implemented, the ADR committee has yet to fully examine it for its efficiency and utility," he says.  

Apart from sweeping Zamzama clean, the new sanitation strategy also involves a beautification scheme for the area, complete with the involvement of horticulturalists. The ADR has suggested that under the revised cleanliness plan, cemented garbage disposal areas in Defence and Clifton should be demolished.  

"Such disposal spots ultimately lead to serious degeneration of sanitation and environment conditions," he says. "Instead, garbage disposal trucks should be used for the swift removal of waste without unduly littering the locality."  

Although the new strategy is currently limited to Zamzama, conservancy contractors have nevertheless been employed to sweep clean all of Defence and Clifton. The hallmark of the service is its door-to-door garbage collection. Garbage is picked up straight from the source, such as residences, apartment blocs, shops, or other commercial ventures, sparing the locality of undue littering.

-- Photos by Zahid Rahman

Hena Iqbal, 36, Working woman:

"I think some of it is recycled and rest thrown away into the nullahs after which it enters into sea or river."

Sameera Majeed, 28, graphic designer: 

"It is dumped on an open plot by the sweepers in our area. After collecting garbage from door-to-door on their wheelbarrows they burn it all up on the plot. I have never seen any garbage truck lifting it from our area."

Emmad ul Haq, 24, Flight Steward:

"We give it to the sweeper who takes it to a garbage dumping site near a bachat bazaar in Gulshan. Then some government vehicle lifts it and transports it to lord knows where."

Nida Kaleem, 23, student:

"I have no idea, but I see filth everywhere on the roadside and particularly on the open plots."

Ibad-u-Rehman, 24, 3D Character Animator:

"I know the garbage from my area ends up at Mirza Adam Khan Road near the Lyari Expressway because I recently read a story in the newspaper."

Fareed Rizwan, 58, Senior Purser:

"I think garbage is lifted by the CDGK and transported to a far off site where it is dumped and burnt. Some of it also recycled ofcourse."