Dhaka’s Waste Crisis by the Numbers: The Smell We Can No Longer Ignore

The foul smell from a roadside garbage pile may last only a few minutes for a passer-by. For people living or working beside it, however, it can persist throughout the day.

In 2026, Dhaka’s waste problem is no longer simply an issue of cleanliness. It is an environmental, public-health and urban-management challenge that can be understood through numbers.

Recent estimates indicate that the four city corporations covering Dhaka, Gazipur and Narayanganj generate approximately 11,500 tonnes of solid waste every day. Dhaka North and Dhaka South alone account for around 6,500 tonnes per day. Roughly 75% of this waste is organic and high in moisture, while collection efficiency is estimated at about 70–80%.

1                What do these numbers mean?

At 6,500 tonnes per day, Dhaka North and South generate approximately 2.37 million tonnes of waste annually.

If around 75% is organic, that represents approximately 4,875 tonnes of biodegradable waste every day, or nearly 1.78 million tonnes annually.

This is not merely waste. Properly separated, a significant portion could become feedstock for composting, anaerobic digestion and other resource-recovery systems.

Instead, organic waste is commonly mixed with plastics, polythene, glass and other materials before collection and disposal.

2                The collection gap

If collection efficiency ranges between 70% and 80%, a simple calculation suggests that 1,300–1,950 tonnes per day may remain outside formal municipal collection.

This should not be interpreted as meaning that all of this waste remains on roadsides. Some may enter informal recycling systems, while some may be burned or disposed of in drains, vacant land and water bodies. Nevertheless, the calculation illustrates the potential scale of the collection challenge.

3                Why does Dhaka’s waste smell so bad?

The answer lies partly in its composition.

Wet food and other organic waste decompose rapidly in Dhaka’s warm and humid conditions. When mixed waste remains in open containers, roadside piles or transfer points, decomposition produces strong odours and contaminated liquid, or leachate.

Rainfall makes the situation worse. Water passing through decomposing waste can carry organic matter, nutrients and other contaminants into drains, soil and nearby water bodies.

This turns a roadside waste problem into a wider environmental-management issue.

4                Waste and urban flooding are connected

Even a small amount of improperly disposed waste can affect drainage.

For illustration, if only 1% of Dhaka’s 6,500-tonne daily waste stream entered drains or water bodies, that would equal around 65 tonnes per day, or nearly 23,700 tonnes annually.

This is an illustrative scenario, not a measured estimate. But it demonstrates why plastic bags, bottles, packaging and other solid waste can become significant obstacles within an already stressed drainage network.

Waste management, therefore, should be integrated into Dhaka’s drainage and urban flood-management strategy.

5                Burning waste does not solve the problem

Open burning simply transfers pollution from land to air.

Burning mixed municipal waste can release fine particulate matter and other harmful pollutants. In a city already struggling with serious air pollution, uncontrolled waste burning represents another preventable source of exposure.

We should not have to choose between breathing decomposing waste on the street and breathing smoke from burning garbage.

6                The opportunity inside Dhaka’s waste

The estimated 75% organic fraction may actually be one of the most important numbers.

If Dhaka generates approximately 4,875 tonnes of organic waste daily, recovering even 20% would divert around 975 tonnes per day, or more than 356,000 tonnes annually, from conventional disposal.

This is why source segregation matters.

Households, restaurants, kitchen markets, hotels and commercial establishments should gradually separate organic waste from recyclable and residual materials. Market waste, in particular, offers opportunities for dedicated organic-waste collection and treatment.

7                We need to measure performance

Dhaka’s waste-management performance should be evaluated through transparent indicators: waste generated, collection efficiency, recycling and composting rates, landfill disposal, illegal dumping points, waste-burning incidents, transfer-station performance, leachate management and public complaints resolved.

Dhaka does not need to make waste simply disappear from our streets.

We need to know where it goes, how much is recovered, how much reaches landfills, and what environmental cost we are paying along the way.

The smell on Dhaka’s roads is more than a nuisance.

It is a measurable warning that we must stop treating waste as something to move away—and start managing it as a resource, a public-health responsibility and an essential part of sustainable urban management.