Gender and Waste Nexus: Experiences from Bhutan, Mongolia and Nepal

Nepal

Country context

Nepal faces considerable challenges with regards to waste management, including unorganized dumping and open burning, which are common methods used to solve increasing waste generation (Nepal, Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration [MoFAGA] 2018). These challenges were heightened following the earthquake in 2015, which generated around 14 million tons of additional waste. This is just one element of the disaster that stretched Nepal’s overall capacity to address the extraordinary emergency (Nepal, MoFAGA 2018). The waste resulting from the earthquake remains an important issue. Climate change context Emissions from the waste sector accounted for 2.7 per cent of all national GHG in Nepal for 2000 to 2001 (Nepal, Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment 2014). The total emissions from the waste sector rose from 12 GgCH4 for the 2000¬–2001 period to 16.7 GgCH4 for the 2010–2011 period, an increase explained by population growth and a general increase in consumption (Nepal, Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment

Nepal is a landlocked country of an estimated 30 million people, which has a moderately average annual population growth rate of around 1.35 per cent (World Population Review 2018). As an agricultural country, most of Nepal’s population lives in rural mountainous and Terai areas (lowlands in southern Nepal), with only 19 per cent living in urban environments. Nepal struggles with a high rate of poverty and is experiencing high levels of rural-to-urban migration. The annual rate of urbanization is 3.08 per cent (Nepal and United Nations Development Programme [UNDP] 2016). Some of the peoplemigrating to cities find employment in the informal waste sector. The difference between urban and rural areas in earnings and expenditures that are directly linked to waste generation is large, as urban households consume around 1.7 times more than rural households (Nepal and UNDP 2016). With almost 1 million inhabitants, Kathmandu is Nepal’s main city and is therefore the focus for the current state and major challenges of the country’s waste sector.

KATHMANDU POPULATION &WASTE GENERATION

HOUSEHOLD WASTE GENERATION PER YEAR

In 2013 In 2018

NEPAL

1.05 kg OF WASTE PER HOUSEHOLD PER DAY

KATHMANDU

RECYCLING IS MAINLY TAKEN ON BY THE INFORMAL SECTOR

Sources: Asian Development Bank,2013; Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration,2018; World Bank,2018.

50,000 people

5,000 tons of waste

POPULATION

Figure 9

Gender and waste nexus

41