How do current waste management practices impact the feasibility of recycling in Kathmandu?

Current waste management practices in Kathmandu significantly hinder the feasibility of recycling, primarily due to the widespread lack of waste segregation at the source.

Here's how current practices impact recycling:

• Mixed Waste at Collection Points: Waste collected from homes and offices is often already mixed in plastic bags, even when vehicles are designated to carry segregated waste. This means that recyclable materials are combined with organic, hazardous, and sanitary waste, including animal or human waste.
• Contamination of Recyclables: The mixing of waste leads to severe contamination of recyclable materials. This contamination, along with the presence of small, diverse waste items and a strong odor, makes it "quite hard" and "quite smelly" to segregate waste manually.
• Ineffective Segregation at Transfer Stations: At transfer stations like Teku, large volumes of mixed waste arrive and are quickly dumped. Scavengers attempt to segregate waste rapidly as vehicles continue to arrive and excavators load waste for transfer to the landfill. However, the high volume and immediate need to transfer waste to the Banchare Danda landfill make "the recovery of the recyclable items and segregation of other types of waste quite impossible at the current situation". The waste is so thoroughly mixed that effective segregation at this stage is extremely time-consuming and difficult.
• Failed Past Initiatives: Previous projects implemented by municipalities with donor agencies and development partners aimed at proper waste management have failed because they all relied on proper waste segregation at the source, which did not occur.
• Lack of Public Practice: Despite municipalities publishing notices, conducting awareness campaigns, and providing support for segregated collection systems, the community largely does not practice waste segregation at home. The author suggests this is due to a "lack of practice," "ignorance," and a tendency to blame the system rather than individual actions.

In essence, the failure to segregate waste at its origin point means that by the time it reaches collection or transfer points, it is highly contaminated and mixed, making the recovery of recyclable materials impractical and economically unfeasible under the current operational model.