FWMC struggles to keep city clean

Company established 7 years ago has failed to devise garbage disposal system

FAISALABAD: The Faisalabad Waste Management Company (FWMC) has not devised a comprehensive system of garbage disposal even seven years after its establishment.

This failure in developing a system has reportedly resulted in a loss of Rs821.25 million to the national treasury due to the lack of proper utilisation of solid waste. In February 2010, a study was conducted by a private company in Faisalabad on the production of various types of solid waste, including plastic, paperboard,  iron, glass and bones.

According to the research report titled ‘Solid waste properties’, a revenue of Rs10,000 is earned from garbage weighing up to a tonne. This garbage also consists of various kinds of metals, plastic, glass and other material.

Cleanliness: FWMC for effective waste management

An investigation conducted by a federal agency revealed that the city is producing 1.124 million tonnes of garbage on a daily basis. However, due to the lack of a proper mechanism of recycling, the waste management company has failed to earn millions of rupees in revenue from recyclables.

When the federal government inquired from the company, last year, about the absence of a system, the officials said that the process of separating the garbage would be started with the establishment of a material recovery (MR) facility. In response to the officials’ statement, the federal body recommended steps to identify the persons responsible for the loss to the national exchequer.

However, no meeting of the district accounts committee was held, nor was anyone held responsible over the issue.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 25^th, 2020.