Out of the shadows

Afghani capital Kabul paves the way for sustainable waste management by Ali Forouhar and Charles Peterson Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, is being rebuilt after decades of war. Several donors, including multilateral agencies (the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund [ARTF], the World Bank [IDA] and UN-Habitat), bilateral donors (notably India and the US) and NGOs are assisting the Municipality of Kabul with improvements to the city’s waste management system, along with other infrastructure improvements. The deteriorated state of the waste management system required improvements in all areas, ranging from strategic placement of domestic waste storage containers, to the closure of the city’s existing dump and development of a new disposal site (an engineered landfill). Enhancing waste collection Located in several narrow valleys in the Hindu Kush mountain range, Kabul is home to an estimated four million people. This is an increase of about 50% since 2001. The geographic layout of Kabul in these valleys, combined with housing construction on steep mountain sides, presents a real challenge to the 18 waste districts that are provided with waste collection services by the city’s Department of Sanitation (DoS). More than 70% of homes are unplanned and were built on the land that were either confiscated by the people or sold by the local warlords. It is quite challenging to provide services in areas with unpaved roads in the hilly areas, where streets are narrow and cannot be drived on in winter. Residential and commercial waste in Kabul has conventionally been brought to collection barrels or collection points - three-sided structures about a metre in height. When the collection truck arrives, either the barrel must be lifted into a truck or shovels are used to transfer the waste manually. Until late 2006, the collection fleet included more than 35 dump trucks from the former Soviet Union with a 3 m3 bed plus about 80 newer dump trucks from Japan and India with 5-8 m3 bed; the latter consume about 16-21 litres of fuel per 100 km compared with the Russian trucks which consume 47 litres per 100 km. Larger-sized trucks with 11-14 m3 bed are used in conjunction with loaders wherever there is a large pile of waste to collect or where storm channels must be emptied of sludge. The bed area in larger trucks is set high from the ground and so such vehicles cannot be loaded with shovels. Management of all collection vehicles and about 3000 city workers has been assigned to the city’s districts. At the present time, five workers are assigned to each collection truck. Once a truck is full, the non-driving workers wait while the truck goes to the dump site to unload and return. This results in the majority of workers being idle for up to two hours. Recently the collection fleet has been supplemented by three rear-loading compaction trucks, more specifically Russian Kamaz trucks with German-designed packer bodies with 18 m3 cargo volume. The rear-loading trucks have the capability to lift and unload 1.1 m3 storage containers. The DoS has bought 500 of these containers, which have wheels on the bottom so the workers can position the containers for unloading. An estimated 700 tonnes per day of waste is collected within Kabul. The low level of waste generated is partially a reflection of the very low per capita income in Afghanistan combined with active picking of recyclables (waste) and the use of food waste as a source of animal feed. There is no weigh bridge in the landfill; the quantity of waste produced is estimated by the cargo volume of collection trucks and number of trips per day to the disposal site. There has not been a physical analysis of the waste discarded in Kabul and some fundamental data are missing. Existing dump sites: Chamtala and Gazak The collected waste is trucked to an existing disposal site at Chamtala, located on the west side of Kabul. The current Chamtala facility is the third disposal site in this area. Solid waste and septage collected by the DoS are dumped at the Chamtala site. The DoS has three bulldozers that are used to spread and compact waste. No soil is used to cover the waste at the end of the day. There are also a number of waste pickers that collect recyclables from the waste dumped at the site. These waste pickers are primarily children. Once the truck enters the landfill, the landfill attendant writes the odometer reading and signs the gas vouchers. The mileage is used for allocating gas (petrol) per vehicle, for example, a Russian Zell truck consumes 47 litres per 100 km of driving, so a truck driven 200 km would be provided with 94 litres. All together, 2500 litres of diesel fuel and 1500 litres of gasoline are consumed every day; some steps to saving fuel have been taken. One recent change since late last year is tracking fuel use as a separate charge code, which could lead to better fuel economy. Waste being pushed into the wadi, a periodic stream bed, at an existing dump site. Efforts are underway to gradually improve Kabul’s waste management practices Click here to enlarge image Recently the Chamtala site was fenced to prevent encroachment of residences onto the 11.5-hectare disposal site. The DoS plans to install a weighbridge at the site to have more reliable data on the waste being received. The scales will be moved to Gazak landfill when the Chamtala site closes. Closure is expected within two to thee years, when a new engineered landfill is planned to go into operation (see below). Soil will be used to cover the active disposal area at Chamtala as well as the two previous dump sites in the area. The soil will be taken from a diversion channel that is to be built around the disposal area to provide a path for the periodic heavy water that used to be able to flow through the wadi (a periodic stream bed during periods of high precipitation). A pond has been designed to collect leachate. In case of overflow, the leachate would be pumped back to the waste area. Another former dump site, Gazak, which is east of Kabul, has been rehabilitated and might be re-opened in the future. Use of the Gazak facility or a proposed transfer station would be less costly than using collection trucks to the new landfill site, located about 15 km north-west of the city centre. New disposal site: Koh-e-Bad e Asia (Mountain of Wind of Asia) As mentioned, within two to three years a new engineered landfill is expected to supersede the Chamtala dump. The new landfill will be located about 5 km north from the Chamtala along the Kunduz highway, a modern four-lane road. A paved, 6-metre-wide access road of 1.5 km long will be built from the highway to the new landfill. The location for the new landfill was selected after six sites were identified and screened by the project engineer (H.P. Gauff Ungenieure; Frankfurt, Germany). The 25-hectare site is in a relatively isolated area at the base of Koh-e-Bad e Asia mountain. The nearest permanent residence is about 3 km away. The engineering design for the landfill provides for 9 million m3 of airspace for waste disposal. This provides an estimated 15 years of disposal capacity for Kabul. The project engineer’s design specifies three cells that will use a combination of area clay and a geomembrane as a bottom liner. Leachate will be collected in a pond. The facility will also have storm water retention basin to control runoff from the adjacent mountain slope and cells that are not in use. Other features of the landfill deign include two scales to weigh in-bound and out-bound trucks, a gate house, workshop for maintenance of site equipment, office building, and parameter fencing. The facility plans also includes the use of landfill compactors and other mobile equipment for the proper operation of the landfill. The hillside location of housing in Kabul presents a waste management challenge Click here to enlarge image As the engineering design for the site has been prepared, the Muncipality plans to retain a private company to build and operate the landfill. An international procurement for a build and operate (BO) contractor is expected for later this year. Outlook After decades of war and continued fighting in parts of the country combined with a rapid influx of people to Kabul, the Municipality has struggled with many urban issues. Efforts are underway in a number of areas to improve the living standards, public health and environment of the city’s residents. In terms of solid waste management, progress is being made towards more cost-effective and efficient collection and enhanced treatment and disposal. Two transfer stations are planned for the city and US$5 million have been put aside for the project. The transfer stations will reduce the transportation costs, the need for collection trucks and the workers will have more time on cleaning than transporting waste. Better management of the collection fleet will be an important benefit of the transfer stations. As outlined above, an engineered sanitary landfill has also been designed and is going through the preparation of bidding documents. This is going to be the first sanitary landfill in the region and will serve as a model for many municipalities in Afghanistan. Agreements have been made with the US Agency for International Development (US AID) in Kabul to provide assistance on the routing of collection vehicles in two of the city’s districts. The locations of existing collection points in one of these districts are being identified on a digital map of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) with assistance from US AID. The routing of collection vehicles will thereafter be enhanced across all districts of the city. A more efficient routing of the collection fleet should result in the more timely collection of waste at a lower cost, which would benefit the citizens of Kabul. A Russian Zell dump truck with waste load. The driver checks in at the Chamtala dump Click here to enlarge image Furthermore, a training programme is being implemented through the project consultant for: proper warehouse management fleet management record-keeping procedures computer introduction for administration and finance staff public relations and an information centre revenue collection unit for septage to generating revenue reporting procedures for middle managers. Waste pickers, primarily children, at the Chamtala dump Click here to enlarge image The existing low pay scale of the Municipality of Kabul limits the ability of the city to attract and retain professional, qualified staff. Serious consideration is being given at the national, cabinet level to change the pay schedule to attract better-quality and more professional people and also to fight corruption. It is expected that within the next three years sufficient tangible results will be achieved so that the people of Kabul can see the benefits of the current work that is being done. Ali Forouhar is Chief Technical Solid Waste Advisor for the Municipality of Kabul, Afghanistan. Charles Peterson is Senior Solid Waste and Carbon Finance Specialist for The World Bank. e-mail: [email protected] Proposed composting operation A short-term demonstration programme on the composting of the organic (biomass) waste discarded in Kabul is also underway. This programme was initiated to test the suitability of composting Kabul’s solid waste stream in combination with human waste from latrines and septic systems. Kabul’s estimated organic content is the range of 55%-80%. If the demonstration programme finds composting to be suitable in Kabul, the proposed operation initially would use mixed solid waste and human waste to produce cover material for the landfill. A full-scale composting operation, if developed, would be located adjacent to the landfill. Septage treatment pilot programme Kabul’s Department of Sanitation (DoS) is responsible for the collection and disposal of solid waste. The DoS also collects septage - i.e. human waste solids (fecal matter) and liquid wastes that accumulate in a septic tank. Such tanks need to be pumped out periodically to remove the solids and some liquids. Typically a septic system involves two tanks; the solids settle in the first tank and the second allows liquids to drain into the ground. About 30% of the city uses septage systems, while the rest of Kabul uses dry latrines. Traditionally, farmers collected the waste in latrines for use on agricultural fields. The rapid population growth and geographic expansion of Kabul since the fall of the Taliban in 2001 has led to a decline in this practice. Waste from latrines not used for agriculture is allowed to collect in ditches alongside houses or is mixed with solid waste for collection by the DoS. These sanitation options represent serious potential environmental and public health risks. Septage disposed into the open channels are cleaned by city workers, dried in open air and then transported to the landfill Click here to enlarge image A pilot programme that will use reed beds for treatment of 150 m3 of septage is being developed. Septage delivered to the facility will initially be screened to remove floatables before being distributed to a basin with reed beds. The facility will provide an alternative to dumping septage at the disposal site or, worse, on vacant land or in rivers. The plant is part of three wastewater treatment plants in the Kabul sewage master plan. It is expected that this treatment plant will be mostly used by private septic tank operators to avoid septage disposal in the city’s storm channels.