Waste Management: Identifying an Organizing Framework

A Concept Paper
Developed by Irfan Sayed

Waste occurs or is generated in a variety of ways and in various situations. Upfront, it’s
overbearing presence as an environmental menace is quite obvious. But there are opportunities
for exploiting waste as a material or energy resource for commercial gains that command
attention. A lot of waste products (as a material resource) can be either sorted mechanically or
manually and inducted or recycled directly into the manufacturing processes of conventional
products. On the other hand, waste material may be processed or converted into viable energy
sources, again for appropriate usages.

In most events, a typical waste management system is configured around the following
elements:

 A collection of source nodes.

 A centralized collection or storage facility where the waste may be processed for full or
partial value-addition.
 A collection of destination or market nodes including buyers of raw or processed waste
that may be further processed and eventually delivered to both B2B and B2C customers.

Apart from the basic technologies involved for converting waste into a value-added resource,
the logistics management of the system emerges very critically in maintaining a stable and
reliable environment for the manufacturing function. In any economic environment there
always are uncertainties at both the micro- and macro-level. Demand is a predominantly
external phenomena influenced by market forces, whereas supply-side disruptions,
particularly in the agro-based sector, carry uncertainties due to weather and yield issues. A
centralized collection facility, in this context, decouples production from distribution and
provides a buffer capacity. There are two distinct advantages that result from this:

 It prevents waste piling up at the source and thus remains preserved.

 It helps continue servicing the downstream supply chain.

In the absence of storage facilities, frequent disruptions may negatively affect long-term
transportation contracts, loss of jobs, customer goodwill, and profitability. A well-designed
logistics system leads to a more controlled management of operations that helps in a better
understanding of the overall dynamics. In turn, that provides directions for forecasting trends,
productivity improvements, inventory management, and capacity expansion.

The forum STRAW PLUS invites professionals, entrepreneurs, academics, and students from
all fields who wish to share their experiences and their perceptions in evolving a consensus on
what provides the building blocks for developing a sustainable waste management program in
Pakistan, interlaced with the unique contours of our cultural and social practices or mindsets.