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| How to deal with garbage in Tehran |
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 Over the last two decades, Tehran’s population has grown rapidly and it has created many problems for its residents.
One of the major challenges of this megacity, in addition to traffic congestion and air pollution, is how to deal with huge amount of garbage produced.
One main problem related to Tehran's rapid population growth has been where and how to dispose of the daily waste.
Garbage in Tehran amounts to about 20 percent of the total waste produced in Iran, with more than 7,000 tons of garbage being collected daily for disposal.
A typical citizen of Tehran produces 500-700 grams of garbage daily.
So where does Tehran's garbage go? Well, over the last forty years more than 95 percent of garbage in Tehran has been taken to the Kahrizak landfill, 30 kilometers southeast of the city, but there are major problems associated with continuing to rely on this site.
An expert in environment management, Morteza Rahmanzadeh, says 75 percent of the organic waste could be recycled and turned into compost.
In an interview conducted recently with the Persian service of the Mehr News Agency, he said, “One of the major challenges of Tehran Municipality is collection, transportation and burial of 7,800,000 kilogram of Tehran garbage which is carried out by employing both manpower and modern technology.
“This huge garbage in a chemical conversion could be turned into compost or organic fertilizer to save time, energy and money,” Rahmanzadeh says.
He said this fertilizer could be replaced with chemical fertilizers and by doing so not only “we will be able to protect the Mother Nature from pollution, but also to reduce the amount spent for the importation of foreign chemicals.”
The official further indicated that in the recent years efforts have been made on the burial of garbage by Tehran Municipality, but because of citizens’ lack of awareness the amount of garbage is increasing.
He went on to say that by educating people properly “we can take a giant step toward reducing the amount of garbage.”
He said the citizens of the country should get educated in separating wet and dry waste and the process should start at their very own kitchen.
If wet garbage gets separated from dry waste before it hits the dumpster, the process of recycling gets easier and more cost effective for the municipality to manage waste, he said.
He said that if other items such as paper, plastic, glasses and other unpolluted wastes are separated from the get-go, the whole process of disposal will drastically improve.
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