Comparison of solid waste management between Oslo (Norway) and Lahore (Pakistan)

The research is devised on two themes as; describe and compare solid waste managementpractices in Lahore (Pakistan) and Oslo (Norway). Solid Waste Management (SWM) is animportant technique in the present times which works on the philosophy of Reuse, Reduce andRecycle and helps in containment of various environmental problems.In the developing countries waste contamination has become an important problem. My primemotive to select Lahore was due to the nature of environmental contamination leading to nondisposalof solid waste. The study is aimed to take cognizance of successful waste managementpractices in Oslo and its replication in Lahore. However, in Oslo solid waste management hasbeen defined scientifically at three levels; generation; collection; treatment. Waste managementhas 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 secondarysources, for example published government reports, data and other relevant information fromofficial websites dealing with solid waste management. The secondary data sources in the case ofSWM have been able to provide a better understanding in the case of Lahore and Oslo andprovided us with a detailed insight into the progress and shortcoming in both cities. We may notbe able to draw commonalities on the operational front between Oslo and Lahore, but Lahore hasa lot to learn from the operations in Oslo. No doubt the number of population and quantity ofwaste generated in Oslo is far less then Lahore but Oslo is recycling 33% of total waste andstrives to reach to more than 50 % until 2014. Besides, Lahore has recycled merely 21% of thetotal generated waste. This is due to lack of technological facilities around 50% waste left over instreets of Lahore, whereas Oslo solid waste management collection rate is almost 100%. In caseof Lahore, bio-degradable waste from one town is processed to convert fertilizer compared to therest of six towns, the rest of municipal waste is dumped in various dumping sites creating morehavoc to the human as well as animal species and ultimately harming the environment. Besidesin Oslo all municipal waste treated in an organized manner. In Oslo people feel confident to payfor waste facilities because of awareness and knowledge and also due to higher socio-economicnorms, but in Lahore people are reluctant to accept rules because of poor knowledge, nonfunctionalcorrupt institutions. The technical advancement of Oslo is a learning experience forLahore having said that the latter has to tread fathom miles in order to make their solid wasteivmanagement functional. There are plethora of regulations at the federal level which impact themanagement and disposal of municipal solid waste in Pakistan. But application of these laws isstill far from becoming a reality for the country. The lack of interest from government and localbodies has hampered advancement of solid waste management as a practice. On the other side, inNorway central government provides general instructions for law enforcement and the people atmunicipality level are empowered to decide about making their surroundings a clean greener andhealthy place to live. Meanwhile, in Pakistan there are best of legislation in place to devisemechanism 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 thatwhen the young children grow up and enter local or federal decision making bodies they havesensitivity towards conservation and sustainability of the environment.