BEST PRACTICES ON SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT OF NEPALESE CITIES
someone does not work as expected, then it is fair to
give the job to some other poor resident of the same
area who will work more conscientiously.
It is estimated that 20 per cent by weight of both
domestic and commercial solid waste is recycled by
the municipality. In addition, private waste recyclers
collect recyclable wastes at unofficial collection points
and also at the dumping site. The municipality operates
a paper recycling plant at Kamalbinayak and it is using
the recycled paper for its office stationery including
files, envelopes and cards. Furthermore, 10 per cent by
weight of the organic waste has been used for
composting (Bhaktapur municipality, 2008 data).
In order to encourage segregation by households and waste
minimisation at source, the municipality is promoting
HH composting by the sale of subsidised compost bins,
as has already been mentioned. It is intended that
households will use this compost on their gardens or on
nearby agricultural land (Bhaktapur municipality, 2008
data). Compost is sold for NRs 200.00 for a small truck
load of around 700 kg (Bhaktapur municipality, 2008
data). The prices paid for recovered paper, plastic, glass
and metal are NRs.4, NRs.5, NRs.10, and NRs.35 per kg
respectively ( Bhaktapur municipality, 2008 data).
Transport and Final disposal
Two power tiller trailers (capacity 1 ton) and eight small
trucks (capacity 700 kg) are mainly used for transporting
solid waste. In addition, four pickups, each having a
capacity of 3 tons, two tippers of capacity 3 tons, eight
small pickups of capacity 700 kg, one backacter loader,
one suction tanker and one jetting tanker make up the
waste management fleet. (Bhaktapur municipality, 2008
data). Bhaktapur municipality disposes its waste on one
bank of the Hanumante River at a point 5 km south-
west of the centre of the municipality. 25 tons of wastes
are dumped there each day (Bhaktapur municipality,
2008 data). This means that 100 per cent of the waste is
collected. Waste pickers, open burning and scavenging
animals were observed at the dumping site.
Organisational and
financial aspects
In total 212 people are employed within the solid
waste management system of Bhaktapur
municipality. The waste management workforce
comprises 1 city inspector, 17 ward inspectors, 13
drivers, 14 toilet cleaners and 167 labourers
(Bhaktapur municipality, 2008 data). The revenue of
this Municipality is derived from property tax,
municipal tax, and licence fees paid by the residents
and businesses. Added to these are grants from the
government, grants from foreign organisations, taxes
paid by tourists and other user charges.
During the field visit, it was observed that local people
were paying a nominal service charge for waste
collection in order to develop a habit of paying for a
service. The municipality collects waste collection
charges at the annual rates of NRs.30 per kitchen and
NRs.60 for every 15 sq ft (1.4 m2) of shop floor area
(Bhaktapur municipality, 2008 data). Waste collection
charges are based on the number of kitchens. The
municipality has spent approximately NRs.20,870,000
for waste management in the year 2007(Bhaktapur
municipality, 2007 data). This amount is approximately
17 per cent of the total municipal expenditure
(Bhaktapur municipality, 2007 data). In 2007, the total
municipal expenditure per person was NRs.1, 440.
Major problems and issues
Despite its effective system of waste collection, the
municipality is facing problems by poor response for
its efforts to encourage waste minimisation at source.
Another major problem is that the waste management
workforce is too small to enable the Municipality to
achieve its vision. The municipality charges a very
nominal yearly fee for waste management, and so does
not have sufficient income to fund needed investments.
The lack of authority of the Community Development
Section to make financial and administrative decisions,
enforcement difficulties, poor cooperation between the
public and private sectors, and inadequate coordination
with stakeholders are among the other obstacles.
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