BEST PRACTICES ON SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT OF NEPALESE CITIES
permanent sweeper of the municipality. Overtime is paid
for work on public and national holidays. Local
residents have praised this system of waste
management because it has not only provided a source
of income to local residents but has also made it easier
to control and complain to the group workers, since
they are all known to the local community.
The municipality is responsible for transporting and
disposal of all the collected solid waste. The main
functions of the Community Development Section are
street sweeping, cleaning of roadside drains, removal
of dead animals, procurement and maintenance of
waste collection vehicles, recruitment and training of
waste management staff, and informing the public about
the waste management system. This department is also
actively engaged in waste minimisation and segregation.
It has also distributed almost 500 composting bins of
50 kilograms capacity, selling them for NRs10. 600 each
(Bhaktapur municipality, 2008 data).
Waste generation and composition
The main objective of the waste management programme
in this municipality is to provide effective waste collection
from households and commercial areas, street sweeping
and safe transport to disposal site. According to the data
provided by the Municipality and the field survey
conducted in May 2008, the average per capita household
waste generation rate is 0.30kg/capita/day and the total
daily waste generation is 25 tons. (Bhaktapur
municipality, 2008 data). These figures are similar to
the national average waste generation rate of 0.25kg/
capita/day and the value for the Kathmandu metropolitan
area of 0.39kg/person/day (SWMRMC, 2008 data).
The composition of household waste at source is: 75
per cent organic or biodegradable waste, 2.25 per cent
paper, 3 per cent textiles, 3.4 per cent plastic, 0.3 per
cent metal, 1.05 per cent glass, 11.0 per cent
construction debris and 4.0 per cent other materials.
(Bhaktapur municipality, 2008 data).
Although the municipality does not have accurate data
regarding the contribution of waste from the different
types of sources, approximate data provided by the
municipality indicates that total of 20 tons/day is
household waste and 5 tons/day comes from commercial
sources (Bhaktapur municipality, 2008 data).
Chart 1: Composition of solid waste at source,
Bhaktapur municipality
According to UN-Habitat, the generation rate for hospital
waste in Nepal is 1.7 kg/day/bed (UNHABITAT & KMC
data, 2007) and approximate data from the municipality
indicates that, total generation of hospital waste is around
860 kg/day. There are four hospitals with a capacity of
500 beds (Bhaktapur municipality, 2008 data). Infectious
healthcare waste is incinerated or buried in trenches
within the perimeter of the hospital.
Waste collection
After the implementation of the solid waste management
(SWM) programme, Bhaktapur municipality has been
working systematically towards effective street
sweeping, collection and transporting of waste. The
services that are provided are the same in all wards,
whether provided by the municipality or by a contractor.
Every day waste is collected and the streets are swept
according to definite schedules, at 6.00 a.m., 12.00
noon and 4.00 p.m. However, in tourist areas, street
sweeping and waste collections are scheduled at four
times each day – 6.00 a.m., 12.00 noon, 4.00 p.m. and
6.00 p.m.
Staff management and the monitoring of street sweeping
and waste collection are very effective because
municipality staff work in the area where they live.
Every ward has a waste inspector who is responsible
for monitoring the services. Waste inspectors have the
authority to hire and fire the street sweepers and
collectors who work for the group contractors. Though
this arrangement was not welcomed by the sweepers
and collectors of the group contractor, the municipality
believes that sweepers and collectors who are employed
by the group contractor receive adequate benefits and
remuneration for the work that they do, and that if
10 Exchange rate 1 USD = NRs. 77 (October 2008)
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