WASTE MANAGEMENT IN NEPAL: CHARACTERIZATION AND

CHALLENGES TO PROMOTE A CIRCULAR ECONOMY

Nicolas Labra Cataldoa, Muyiwa Oyinlolab, Samip Sigdelc, Dori Nguyend, Alejandro Gallego-Schmida*

a
Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Manchester, Manchester, United
Kingdom

b
Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development, De Montfort University, Leicester UK, LE1 9BH

c
Green Decision Labs and Research, Kathmandu, Nepal

d
Utopia, CITYLAB, Kathmandu, Nepal

Corresponding Author: Alejandro Gallego-Schmid (alejandro.gallegoschmid@manchester.ac.uk)

Supplementary Information

A. Questionnaires

For Informal Waste Workers

1. Name of Respondent

2. Please tell us about yourself

3. Please tell us how you started your journey until now. How did you come to work in your
current position?

4. Why do you work in waste?

5. How did you learn to do this work?

6. Can you tell me about your typical day at work?

7. Can you tell me about the distance travelled per day, health and safety measures taken during
your work hour, main clients and changes in working patterns due to COVID-19?

8. Can you tell about the types of material you collect, and demand for these different materials?
and some information about the relation between you and the actors who collect these specific
 materials?

9. Can you tell about the destination of material, its process, and how access to waste resources
among IWS is determined?

10. Can you tell about the frequency of interactions with formal/ informal/ non-governmental/

governmental or about the support provided by them in the light of COVID or anything?

For formal waste actors

- Background

1.1 Please tell us about yourself and your organization. What does your organization do in the
waste sector?

1.1.1 What service do you provide? Who are your main customers?

1.1.2 What steps and which human resources do your daily processes involve?

1.2 Please tell us about how you started and your journey until now. How did you come to work in
your current position?

1.2.1 What are your major responsibilities in the position?

- Processing/Recycling

2.1 What are your internal/external guidelines for collection for waste producers? E.g.,
segregation

2.2 Do you have any plans to work in/support material recovery?

- Informal Waste Sector

3.1 Who do you define as the informal sector?

3.1.1 What do you perceive as the 2-3 key differences between formal and informal waste actors?
 3.2 How do you work with the informal waste sector? Please describe the process. [If not, why
not?]

3.2.1 How would you describe the current role of IWWs in the KTM waste system? How do they
work with the formal system?

3.2.2 How do you think IWWs benefit the waste management ecosystem? How can they best
support the system?

3.3 How is the IWS network structured internally? Who are the major actors and why?

3.3.1 How do the IWS actors work? Do they separate territories, and if so, how?

3.3.2 At which points in the KTM waste management system is the IWS active? Why?

3.3.3 What are the major waste resources recovered by the IWS?

3.4 How would you describe your relationships with IWWs? Why?

3.5 How has COVID impacted the IWS? Has this impact on IWS affected the formal and broader
waste sector?

- Challenges

4.1 What is the most significant challenge in waste management in Kathmandu?

4.1.1 How do you think these challenges can be tackled in the next 5 years? 10 years?

4.2 What is the most significant challenge that you face? Which actors influence or pose such
challenges?

4.2.1 What have you done to address this challenge? How would it affect your organization if this
challenge persists for the next e.g. 5 years?

4.3 How would you describe the recycling sub-sector of the waste system in Nepal?
- Policy and Operating Environment

5.1 How is the policy and regulatory environment for waste management in KTM? Which of these
affect your org and how?

5.1.1 How do the current policies affect the IWS?

5.2 What support has the government provided in waste management, including in collection,
transport, materials recovery, subsidies, etc.?

5.2.1 Have you been able to access any of these?

5.3 Are you engaged in any policy development or advocacy initiatives?

5.3.1 Do any of them include the IWS (in nature or actual engagement)? Why (not)?

- Activities

6.1 Let’s list the different types of materials that you collect. What can you tell us about the
characteristics, value and demand of these different materials? Why?

Prompts

- Do you recover waste from the waste stream? Why?

- Material name, composition, properties, quantity (in variable time frames - per pickup, day, week,
sale to buyer/next actor in supply chain)

- Material value - from pick up to sale (what happens if it’s not picked up?), and beyond (when sold
back to market)

- Do you have any preference for the materials collected? Why?

- Types of actors who collect, how and why? Any tensions between actors who collect specific or
groups of materials

- Any hierarchical distribution for access to waste resources?

- Taxations involved in the business. Any specifically related to material supply chains? What are
the resulting challenges?
- Challenges regarding access of waste due to COVID?

For clients
- Background

1.1 Please tell us about yourself and your family (if household)/your organization (if client is
organization)

1.1.1 What role do you have in the org/company or in your household?

1.1.2 Does your role or position/role entail the responsibility of looking after waste? What are
your major goals?

- Waste Production, Segregation and Collection

2.1 Waste Production

2.1.1 What are the major kinds of waste generated?

2.1.2 What processes or departments are predominantly responsible for waste production?

2.1.3 How much waste is generated of the specific categories (kg or tonne per day or
month)?

2.2 Waste Segregation

2.2.1 Do you segregate the waste produced?

2.2.1.1 If yes, into what categories?

2.2.1.2 If no, what is the reason behind it? (tidiness/ effort/ money)

2.2.2 What might motivate you to segregate waste?

2.2.3 Have you received any training for waste segregation?

2.2.4.1 If yes, what kind?

2.2.4.2 If no, do you feel that you require any? Which? Why?
 2.3 Who collects the waste?

2.3.1 How often is collection done?

2.3.2 What is the tariff for waste collection?

2.3.3 What are the kinds of wastes collected by these service providers?

2.3.4 Do you know where the collected waste ends up?

- Informal Waste Sector

3.1 How do you manage your waste, in the household and beyond?

3.2 Who manages your waste and how did you make this decision?

3.2.1 If you at some point in the past used a different waste service, can you please describe it and
why you decided to change.

3.3 How are IWWs involved in your waste collection? What are the major types of waste they
collect from you?

3.3.1 What waste does the IWS identify as valuable?

3.3.2 What amount do they provide per kg of such waste?

3.3.3 What types of materials are not or inconsistently collected by the IWS?

3.3.4 If you don’t use IWWs’ service, why not?

3.4 How do you view the role of IWWs in the broader waste system?

3.5 What would be your ideal waste management process - from production to disposal/reuse?

3.6 How will the waste sector change due to COVID? What does the future waste system look like?

B. Program of the workshop celebrated on the 13th January 2022 in Kathmandu,

Nepal
 Assessing the informal waste sector contribution to Nepal’s
circularity transition
Findings and recommendations from the RAEng funded project“ Assessing the
informal waste sector contribution to Nepal’s circularity transition”
13th January, 14:00 - 17:00 Kathmandu (Nepal)

14:00 – 14:10 Welcome and project overview (Dr Alejandro Gallego Schmid)
14:10 – 14:25 – Outcomes of the project regarding the relationship between waste actors and
influence of Covid in the sector (Samip Sigdel and Dori Nguyen)
- Description of the waste system, actors and their relation (10 minutes)
- Effects of Covid (5 minutes)
14:25- 15:00 Open discussion on the level of circularity of the waste sector in Nepal (chair by
Nicolas Labra and Dori Nguyen)
- Concept of Circular Economy and examples of Circular Economy identified in the waste
sector in Nepal and other relevant examples found in the literature to open the discussion
(10 minutes)
- Contribution of the informal waste sector to Nepal’s circularity transition (5 minutes)
- Discussion in groups (10 minutes) (
o Other examples of the contribution of CE available in Nepal?
- Sharing of the discussions (10 minutes)
15:00-15:15 Break
15:15 – 15:50 Open discussion on the main challenges of the waste sector in Nepal (chair by
Dr Muyiwa Oyinlola)
- Presentation of main challenges (5 minutes)
- Discussion in groups (15 minutes) (
o What challenges are missing?
o Five more important challenges (in order)
- Sharing of the discussions (15 minutes)
15:50 – 16:20 Open discussion on potential policy recommendations (chair by Dr Muyiwa
Oyinlola Muyiwa)
- Presentation of policy recommendations (5 minutes))
- Discussion in groups (15 minutes)
o Challenges of the policies recommended
o What other policies can be applied to?
- Sharing of the discussions (10 minutes)
16.20 – 17.00 Lunch