Investigating the challenges of waste collection and disposal

In recent years, we have witnessed a significant increase in household waste because of rapid urbanization. Current municipal solid waste management practices can be used to select optimal policies using strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This study aims to assist in understanding the current state of household waste management. The research was conducted by studying government reports, waste management regulations, and literature review. This study opens a window through which the major stakeholders can recognize the internal and external conditions of household waste management that can be useful in developing and promoting waste management at the strategic level.
The results revealed that among all waste management practices, the emphasis on a single technology (such as RDF) is not effective for the complete management of solid waste. Therefore, a specific combination of technologies (e.g., composting plants/biofuel production/recycling unit) should be adopted for sustainable waste management to reduce the side effects of landfilling. In addition, the findings show that examining the weaknesses, threats, opportunities, and strengths can help to formulate a strategic action plan for sustainable cities. Examining the strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities shows that both internal and external factors play a role in waste management. Here, the most important issue is having a sufficient and reasonable policy and budget. However, there exists insufficient infrastructure, lack of long‐term plans, social unacceptability, policy uncertainty, and fear of losing revenue. There is also a weak link between the municipality and residents and a lack of participation in waste segregation programs.