Assessment and Management Strategy of Solid and Other Household Waste Products in Nagaon Municipal Area of Nagaon District, Assam

Abstract

Growing household waste production is one of the main environmental issues in fast developing urban areas. This work was done to find out what kinds of and how much solid waste households produce within ward no. 8 and 22, that fall under Nagaon Municipal Board (NMB), Nagaon, Assam. To do this, the investigators went out into the field for direct observation and also had interactions with the residents to grasp the ways they generate and dispose of waste locally. From the information gathered, it turned out that the bulk of the waste coming from the households was made up of biodegradable waste like kitchen waste, vegetable peels and leftover food. Besides these, non-biodegradable wastes such as plastic materials, packaging products, glass and metal items were also normally found. This piece of work furthermore emphasized on households' failure to separate their waste properly and the overall ignorance of the community with respect to sustainable waste management practices are the main reasons behind the inefficient methods of waste disposal. According to the results, proper separation of wastes, raising public/community awareness and better municipal waste management policies are necessary to minimize pollution to the environment and to encourage sustainable ways of waste handling. The research points out that properly managing waste at the level of the household can be very instrumental in keeping the urban environment healthy.