Household Waste Generating Factors and Composition Study for Effective Management in Gorkha Municipality of Nepal

Abstract

Municipal solid waste is a growing concern in cities of developing countries and households are the main contributor. Lack of reliable data sources remain one of the major drawbacks for deciding on effective waste management option. The study area Gorkha municipality is selected because it is one of the highly under-researched and least resource intensive municipalities in Nepal. However, continued growth in municipal waste if left unattended will only intensify the problem and thus demands proactive action. Therefore, the objective of this study is to analyze waste composition and to evaluate the socioeconomic factors impacting household waste generation for effective management. Using stratified sampling method, 401 households were selected from all 15 municipal wards. Socioeconomic factors impacting household waste generation were assessed using Ordinary Least Square regression model. The rate of household waste generation in Gorkha municipality is found to be 0.24 kg/capita/day and estimated total household waste generation of 9.4 tonnes/day. Household size and income are found to have positive impact on waste generation, both statistically significant at 1% and thus can be important indicators to forecast solid waste generation trend. Household waste composition was 47.25% organic waste, 37.52% recyclable waste that comprised of 10.38% paper and paper products, 9.88% glass, 6.92% metal, 5.39% plastic, 3.57% textile and 1.38% rubber and leather, and rest 15.23% other waste. Organic waste has the highest share and if not managed properly, creates serious health and environmental hazards. It could be managed efficiently by composting at household and local government level.

Determinants of Municipal Solid Waste in Urban Zone of Baglung Municipality, Nepal

“…Table 2 represents the comparison of MSW generation rate in the Baglung Municipality and other cities in the world. For instance, Gorkha (Maskey & Singh, 2017), Risikesh (Rawat & Daverey, 2018), Suzhou (Zhang et al, 2018) and Cape Haitian City (Philippe & Culot, 2009) have lower rate of waste generation whereas Takoradi (Miezah et al, 2015) and Mexicali City (Gomez et al, 2008) have higher household waste generation in comparison with this study. The household's generation rate of MSW is very high in Mexicali City (0.676 kg/c/d), which is a relatively developed city.…”

Environmental Security Threats in Bandar Lampung

“…The problem of waste in the world is also a concern, where the growing amount of waste production increased by 87.5%. Most waste production generally comes from low-middle-income countries and developing countries [7]. In processing waste, developing countries are still considered not entirely satisfactory, and this is because the existing processing system is not sufficient to process the waste produced, the amount of which is every year.…”

What are the triggers of household decision-making on waste disposal choices? A gender differentiated analysis

“…In the study of waste composition and socio-economic factors influencing household waste generation in the Gorkha municipality in Nepal, Maskey and Singh (2017) employed a stratified sampling method and ordinary least square technique. The study revealed that 0.34kg/capita/day was generated by households in Gorkha and estimated generated household waste was 9.4 tonnes per day.…”

“…Secondly, unlike other studies ( Almasi et al., 2019 ; Foster et al., 2012 ; Chu et al., 2013 ; Buckingham et al., 2005 ; Maskey and Singh 2017 ; Sotamenou et al., 2019 ; Alhassan et al., 2020 ), this is the first that uses the multinomial logit model and exogenous switching effects treatment regression (ESTER) to model the effect of gender on the environment through waste disposal choices. Very crucial in this study rests on the observed and unobserved heterogeneity of household types.…”