Waste Management Outlook for Mountain Regions

Household waste pickup, Kathmandu. Photo © Wikimedia/Sigismund von Dobschütz

Lessons from community initiatives

not exist in remote areas and the logistical arrangements for accessing funds may be too complex.

Community-based financing based on voluntary mechanisms, tourism revenue or the sale of recyclable materials (where possible) are often more appropriate in remote mountain regions. It is difficult to attract companies and state municipalities to invest in these areas due to weak property rights, high service costs and poor banking services. However, because community groups often lack access to financing options, it is important to ensure ways of increasing the incentive and capacity to self-manage and decrease waste. Mechanisms such as cooperative funds – reserves of money, managed by cooperative members – could be used to address these challenges. Cooperative funds could be used for building waste infrastructure, maintaining vehicles and subsidizing incomes when prices of sellable waste are low (Achtell, 2013). However, these often require access to public banks, which may

Financial incentives such as grants for small-scale recycling or composting projects could encourage other small-scale systems on a wider scale. However, any financial allocations and their payment criteria must be well defined and widely publicized among community groups through information campaigns (Ali and Snel, 1999). There are potential pitfalls to community approaches including organizations running over budget and being unable to pay workers their full wage.There are also aspects of gender inequality to be considered – jobs primarily done by women, such as sorting and cleaning recyclables, are often undervalued and not recognized as part of the waste system (GIZ, 2008). Consultations, calculating full costs and transparent budgeting is necessary to

40