Solid waste management practices and challenges in Besisahar municipality, Nepal

Abstract

This study is a comprehensive assessment of the waste management system in Besisahar municipality. Information and some data have been collected from the municipality of Besisahar, followed by interviews with municipal officials responsible for waste management, stakeholders, waste workers, and residents. A total of 230 households, 20 schools, 10 government and private offices, 10 financial institutions, 60 commercial hotels, restaurants, and shops, and 20 medical shops and healthcare institutions, were selected in this study by random sampling. An extensive field study was conducted within all municipal wards and at dump sites. The results indicated that 42.14% of solid waste was collected through door-to-door collection services, 5.87% was mismanaged in open public places, 11.21% was used as compost manure, and the rest was discarded on riverbanks, dug up, and burned. A large component of the characterization of household waste consisted of organic waste (68.03%), followed by paper/paper products (8.13%), agricultural waste (5.5%), plastic (5.21%), construction (3.81%), textile (2.72%), metals (0.54%), glass (1.01%), rubber (0.10%), electronic (0.05%), pharmaceutical (0.1%) and others (4.78%) in the Besishahar municipality. Solid waste generation was found to be at 197.604 g/capita/day, as revealed by cluster sampling in 230 households. Around 4.285 tons-solid waste/day were generated in urban areas, while 16.13 tons-solid waste/day was estimated for the whole municipality. An important correlation between the parameters of solid waste was found by statistical analysis. Currently, solid waste is dumped on riverbanks, open fields, and springs, creating environmental and health hazards. The findings of this study will be useful to Besisahar municipality and its stakeholders in forming policies that facilitate waste management practices in this region and promote sustainable waste management systems.