Waste Management—A Case Study
in Nepal
Aisha Khatoon
Abstract In Nepal, waste management is a principal function of a local municipality
including planning, financing, and delivering the urban waste management services.
The national institutions’ role is limited to formulating waste management-related
policies and providing technical support. At present, waste management receives a
low priority both at the national and local level. Lack of financial resources, human
resources capacity, waste management technology, and infrastructure are often cited
as the common barriers to waste management. A rapid assessment of solid waste
management (SWM) practices was conducted in 16 selected municipalities across
seven provinces of Nepal in mid 2018. The study utilized both secondary-data compilation and primary-data collection techniques as the study methodology. The study
revealed that the average per capita municipal solid waste (MSW) generation was
0.39 kg/capita/day. The average composition of MSW was: organic (43.6%), paper
and paper products (22.7%), plastic (13.8%), glass (6.4%), metals (2.7%), textile
(3%), rubber and leather (1.3%), and others (6.6%) (MoFAGA, Baseline assessment,
Integrated Waste Management 2018). This composition analysis reveals a higher
potential for waste recycling and energy recovery. Despite the potential, waste recycling in Nepal is at a primitive level and at the hands of the informal sector. Recycling
is mainly aided by the informal or small-scale formal private sector—the scrap dealers
and recycling factories. With thousands of scrap dealers and small-scale recycling
companies operating in Nepal, only hundreds are registered; hence, the recycling
efforts and revenue from recycling often go unrecorded and unnoticed. Similarly,
these recycling arrangements are limited to Terai region leaving the hill and mountain municipalities behind in their recycling target. On a positive light, new recycling
companies are being established in Nepal as opposed to earlier arrangements where
the collected scrap materials are used to be exported to the Indian recycling companies. Therefore, recycling practice in Nepal should be upscale and institutionalized
with environmentally sound technologies and with a larger investment, while still
making the recycling activities inclusive of the informal sector.
Keywords Waste · Nepal · Waste disposal · Kathmandu valley · Recycling
A. Khatoon (B)
LEAD Nepal, Kathmandu, India
e-mail: khatoon85@gmail.com
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
S. K. Ghosh (ed.), Solid Waste Policies and Strategies: Issues, Challenges
and Case Studies, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-1543-9_17
185
in Nepal
Aisha Khatoon
Abstract In Nepal, waste management is a principal function of a local municipality
including planning, financing, and delivering the urban waste management services.
The national institutions’ role is limited to formulating waste management-related
policies and providing technical support. At present, waste management receives a
low priority both at the national and local level. Lack of financial resources, human
resources capacity, waste management technology, and infrastructure are often cited
as the common barriers to waste management. A rapid assessment of solid waste
management (SWM) practices was conducted in 16 selected municipalities across
seven provinces of Nepal in mid 2018. The study utilized both secondary-data compilation and primary-data collection techniques as the study methodology. The study
revealed that the average per capita municipal solid waste (MSW) generation was
0.39 kg/capita/day. The average composition of MSW was: organic (43.6%), paper
and paper products (22.7%), plastic (13.8%), glass (6.4%), metals (2.7%), textile
(3%), rubber and leather (1.3%), and others (6.6%) (MoFAGA, Baseline assessment,
Integrated Waste Management 2018). This composition analysis reveals a higher
potential for waste recycling and energy recovery. Despite the potential, waste recycling in Nepal is at a primitive level and at the hands of the informal sector. Recycling
is mainly aided by the informal or small-scale formal private sector—the scrap dealers
and recycling factories. With thousands of scrap dealers and small-scale recycling
companies operating in Nepal, only hundreds are registered; hence, the recycling
efforts and revenue from recycling often go unrecorded and unnoticed. Similarly,
these recycling arrangements are limited to Terai region leaving the hill and mountain municipalities behind in their recycling target. On a positive light, new recycling
companies are being established in Nepal as opposed to earlier arrangements where
the collected scrap materials are used to be exported to the Indian recycling companies. Therefore, recycling practice in Nepal should be upscale and institutionalized
with environmentally sound technologies and with a larger investment, while still
making the recycling activities inclusive of the informal sector.
Keywords Waste · Nepal · Waste disposal · Kathmandu valley · Recycling
A. Khatoon (B)
LEAD Nepal, Kathmandu, India
e-mail: khatoon85@gmail.com
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
S. K. Ghosh (ed.), Solid Waste Policies and Strategies: Issues, Challenges
and Case Studies, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-1543-9_17
185