BEST PRACTICES ON SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT OF NEPALESE CITIES
UEMS for household compostingURBAN ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
Introduction
The Urban Environment Management Society (UEMS)
was established in 2002 with a vision to provide safe
drinking water and proper sanitation, and to minimise
the quantities of domestic solid wastes, through
coordination with government offices and mobilisation
of local volunteers. (UEMS, 2008 data)
Rationale for selection
This case was selected because it provides information
about HH composting activities for organic waste
reduction.
Case description
Lalitpur Sub-Metropolitan City (LSMC) is located
immediately south of Kathmandu. The total area of
Lalitpur is 15.47 km2, and it comprises 22 wards with
34,996 HHs in 2001 (CBS, 2001). Various communities,
NGOs and CBOs are working to improve the environment
in the core area of LSMC. Until recently, in core areas
the common approach to waste management was 'throw
and forget', and scattered waste was found on every
street. Residents had no knowledge of recycling and
HH composting. Saugal is a core area that used to
exemplify such attitudes and problems and was
therefore considered as a pilot programme by UEMS.
The activities of UEMS in solid waste management are
said to be completely dependent on volunteers. The main
objectives of UEMS are to enhance solid waste
management at HH level by mobilising local resources,
to promote networking between concerned
organisations, and to strengthen the organisational
capacity of UEMS.
UEMS initiated its household-based solid waste
management programme by involving housewives in
selected areas. In addition, it conducted awareness-
raising activities by means of training, orientation,
exhibitions, community mobilisation and education.
UEMS worked to strengthen the capacities of local
volunteers through appropriate training, orientation,
observation tours, organise and participate meetings
and workshops related to solid waste management. After
successfully implementing HH composting in the Saugal
area of LSMC, UMES is now planning to extend its
activities to other core areas of Lalitpur.
Waste generation and composition
According to the data provided by UEMS and a field
survey conducted in June 2008, the average HH waste
generation rate in Lalitpur is 0.37kg/capita/day (LSMC,
2008 data). This rate is more than the national average
generation rate of 0.25kg/capita/day and less than the
rate for Kathmandu Metropolitan City, which is 0.39kg/
capita/day (SWMRMC, 2008 data). The composition of
Name of the Programme: UEMS for HH composting
Location: Saugal,Ward no. 11 of Lalitpur Sub-Metropolitan City
Duration of the Project: 2002 onwards
Beneficiaries: Residents of Ward no. 11 Saugal area LSMC
Donors and Partners: Lalitpur Sub-Metropolitan City, United Mission to Nepal (earlier)
Vision of the programme: Organic waste handling and recycling
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