A Study on the collection of Waste PET Bottles in the Kathmandu Valley

Submitted by: Development Inn Pvt Ltd GPO-8975, EPC-2955 Kathmandu, Nepal
Study Team: Chiranjibi Rijal, Dr. Kishor Atreya, Anukram Adhikary and Nowal Kishore Bhattara

A Study on the collection of  Waste PET Bottles in the Kathmandu Valley

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The Kathmandu Valley with five municipalities (Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Kirtipur, Bhaktapur and Madhyapur Thimi) produces the highest amount of solid waste in Nepal amounting to approximately 620 tons per day. This comprises of 19% of plastic waste consisting of polyethylene bags, plastic wrappers, mineral water, and soft drink bottles, also known as PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles (ADB, 2013). One of the crucial components of plastic waste is the PET bottles. Consumers dispose the PET bottles after use but these bottles potentially have a high value as a resource, i.e. they can be recycled into raw materials, which can then be used for manufacturing textiles, carpets and other industrial products. As a result, PET bottles, due to their potential for high monetary return, are readily picked by waste pickers, which are then sold to waste collectors. These waste pickers or primary waste workers (PWWs), whose earnings fluctuates with the market, are sparsely organised.

The role of waste workers (WWs) in the waste management of the Kathmandu Valley cannot be undermined. It is estimated that around 10,000 to 15,000 waste pickers and 700 to 800 kabadis (scrap dealers/owners) are engaged as PWWs and secondary waste workers (SWWs), respectively, in the Kathmandu Valley (PRISM, 2014). A study on informal waste management suggests that it is only by understanding, acknowledging, and incorporating informal waste workers into new ways of delivering improved services that sustainable solutions may be found with regards to increasing levels of resource recovery and a more safe and sound livelihood (Nas and Jaffe, 2004; Rouse, 2004; Scheinberg et al., 2006).

Against this backdrop, this study was conducted in the aforementioned five municipalities of the Kathmandu Valley as well as in Okharpauwa of Nuwakot district with the objective to gauge the present socio-economic conditions of the PWWs in order to better understand their underlying issues. Furthermore, in order to be able to exploit the opportunities in terms of recycling waste PET bottles, a thorough market analysis of market supply, market size of the waste PET bottles and pricing policies, etc. was conducted. The study has used both quantitative and qualitative information. Respondents were identified and selected using snowball and convenience sampling techniques. Qualitative information was collected through both person-specific and group-focused interactions by using rapid assessment techniques such as focus group discussions (FGDs), key informant interviews (KIIs), and case studies.

The major findings of the study are as follows:

• There are a total of 15,539 PWWs in the Kathmandu Valley. From the 151 locations inside the Kathmandu Valley that were visited for the purpose of this study, it was found that there were a total of 15,539 individuals working as PWWs inside the five municipalities of the Kathmandu Valley, and Okharpauwa, Nuwakot.  

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