What strategies could effectively integrate and regulate Nepal's informal waste management sector?

 Nepal's informal waste sector has a long-standing historical presence, operating for more than 50 years, with generations dedicating their lives to this work. Waste management in Kathmandu traditionally involved communal manure pits and was often the responsibility of "untouchable" castes, who collected and dumped waste in open fields and rivers [Previous conversation]. This sector is indispensable, providing economic opportunities to many, especially low-educated or unskilled labor, and is crucial for collecting and recovering high recyclable materials from households, diverting significant waste from landfills, and promoting a circular economy. Without them, most recyclable items would likely end up in landfills.

Sources suggest that strategic integration and regulation are the most effective ways forward for this vital sector.

Here are key strategies that could effectively integrate and regulate Nepal's informal waste management sector:

• Formal Recognition and Legislative Inclusion:

  • The informal sector should be formally integrated and assigned the specific responsibility to collect recyclable and non-hazardous waste. This formalizes their existing, crucial role.
  • It is crucial to give formal recognition to waste pickers, coupled with support systems, to create a more organized and sustainable waste management ecosystem. Despite their importance, waste pickers currently lack legislative recognition in Nepal's Solid Waste Management Act of 2011 and are not integrated into planning processes.
  • Government policies should extend rights and benefits to all waste pickers to help them escape the poverty cycle.
  • Policies should be formulated to encourage local government to recognize the informal sector, which can lead to eventual integration.
  • It's necessary to re-consider the role and contribution of the informal waste sector to the formal recycling sector.
  • Integrating the informal sector leads to increased recyclable recovery rates and reduced total waste-management costs.

• Capacity Building and Training:

  • It is imperative to provide comprehensive training to the informal sector on the proper management of hazardous waste. This addresses existing shortcomings and enhances their capabilities.
  • Training vulnerable community members, including informal waste workers (IWWs), for plastic waste collection is beneficial.
  • Awareness campaigns should be targeted at IWWs to promote safe collection.
  • NGOs like MdM-France have provided monthly training on sanitation and are working for the safety and health of informal waste pickers in landfills.

• Provision of Support Systems and Designated Workspaces:

  • The informal sector should be allowed to work within communities or in specifically designated places. While their processing locations are often in residential areas and may appear messy, they don't pose a threat if they handle only recyclable and non-hazardous waste.
  • Support should include access to social protection schemes, health insurance, and occupational health and safety packages for vulnerable IWWs.
  • Examples from Delhi and Nairobi show successful formalization by offering protective equipment and access to better working conditions.
  • Providing a better working environment for waste workers is recommended.
  • For scrap centers, which often serve as living spaces, reserving space through development plans for recycling facilities, storage, and processing activities can support the sector. This helps integrate both spatial and economic informality.
  • Providing access to waste, protective equipment, healthcare facilities, and educational materials for children of waste workers can improve their living and working conditions.

• Promotion of Collaboration and Partnerships:

  • Partnership with the informal recycling sector improves resource efficiency and contributes to poverty reduction and environmental improvements.
  • Strengthening existing Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) of waste workers is a key activity.
  • Organizing informal waste workers into cooperatives or associations is critical for their collective voice to be heard and to facilitate integration into formal waste management systems.
  • Strong state support for waste picker organizations is needed to establish integrated solid waste management systems.
  • Formal collaboration with active private waste management companies through formal agreements is recommended, as they cover a large part of the city's waste management needs.
  • Community-driven programs are highly effective in promoting sustainable practices. Engaging communities through education, incentives, and collaborative efforts is crucial.
  • Public-private partnerships are highlighted as essential for driving scalable solutions for plastic waste management. The private sector's involvement is crucial.
  • Partnerships between local governments, the private sector, and NGOs are essential to bridge resource gaps and create scalable solutions.

• Financial and Policy Incentives:

  • Review of tax concerns affecting informal waste workers and the possibility of plastic waste entrepreneurship.
  • Incentivizing the recycling industry with financial support for businesses and individuals contributing to material recovery is important.
  • Implementing policies that encourage Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), where manufacturers are accountable for the lifecycle of their products, is necessary.
  • Promote green investments and sustainable banking practices.
  • Issuing municipal bonds for local funding and addressing gaps in current policies are suggested.
  • Government policy should promote waste recovery and recycling investments.

• Addressing Challenges and Heterogeneity:

  • Instead of removing informal workers, the actual problem should be identified to eliminate the specific threat, rather than denying them space or removing them from municipal areas, which is not an actual solution.
  • Waste minimization techniques, such as reducing packaging and encouraging household recycling, can reduce the burden on the informal sector.
  • Acknowledge the heterogeneity of the informal waste sector (e.g., waste pickers, itinerant buyers, scrap dealers) and design integration approaches that consider their diverse interests and realities.
  • Address the social stigma associated with waste work and the caste dimension.
  • A problem-oriented approach is needed to address any genuine threats posed by the informal sector, rather than denying them space.

By adopting these integrated strategies, Nepal can leverage the informal waste sector's significant contributions to waste management and economic development, moving towards a more formalized, safer, and sustainable system.