To improve waste segregation and management in Kathmandu Valley, both behavioral and systemic changes are crucial, with a strong emphasis on addressing the lack of consistent practice at the source.
Based on the source, the
following changes are needed:
1. Behavioral Changes:
- Overcome the "Lack of Practice" and
"Ignorance": The author explicitly states that the problem
lies in a "practice that lacks" and "ignorance
that leads to this situation". This suggests a need for sustained
efforts that not only raise awareness (which the source suggests is
already present) but genuinely translate awareness into consistent action
at the household and office level.
- Shift from a "Blaming Others"
Mentality: A significant obstacle is the "blaming to other
mentality or saying that system does not work mentality". For
effective waste segregation, individuals and communities need to take
personal responsibility for their waste management practices at the source
rather than attributing failures solely to external systems.
- Consistent Source Segregation by Households and
Offices: Despite repeated advice from municipality workers and their
desire to collect segregated waste, waste continues to be collected mixed
in plastic bags from homes and offices. Therefore, a fundamental
behavioral change required is the diligent and consistent segregation
of waste at the source by all community members. This includes
separating organic, recyclable, hazardous, and sanitary waste from each
other.
- Active Community Compliance: Even with
municipalities publishing notices and supporting segregated collection
systems, the community has not acted on it, and waste remains
unsegregated. This highlights the need for active compliance and
participation from the public in following established guidelines for
waste segregation.
2. Systemic Changes (Primarily
focused on ensuring compliance with existing frameworks):
- Ensure Enforcement and Utilization of Existing
Segregated Collection Systems: The municipalities have already
"tried their best to make aware the people and have also supported
for segregated collection system". The systemic change here is not
necessarily to create new systems, but to ensure that these
established systems are effectively utilized by the community and that
there is compliance with the segregated collection.
- Reinforce Source Segregation as the Foundational
Step: Previous projects aimed at proper waste management failed
because they all "required proper waste segregation at source and
that was not done or happened". Any future systemic interventions or
management strategies must prioritize and ensure that source
segregation is genuinely implemented as the very first and most
crucial step in the waste management chain.
- Address Contamination Issues at the Point of
Collection: The current practice leads to recyclables being highly
contaminated with organic, hazardous, and sanitary waste. Systemic
measures could explore mechanisms or incentives that discourage the mixing
of waste at the collection point, or disincentives for non-segregated
waste. The current situation at transfer stations makes the "recovery
of the recyclable items and segregation of other types of waste quite
impossible". Therefore, the systemic change needed is to prevent
this high level of contamination from occurring in the first place by
ensuring waste is segregated before it reaches the collection
vehicles or transfer stations.
In summary, while various
stakeholders are working on awareness and collection systems, the core systemic
and behavioral challenge is the failure of individuals to perform proper
waste segregation at the source, despite being aware and having access to
supportive municipal frameworks. Addressing this fundamental lack of practice
and the prevalent "blaming others" mentality is key to improving
waste segregation and management in Kathmandu Valley.
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