The Act has other interesting provisions too such as segregation of waste before handing it to collectors. If this can be done effectively, half the problem of waste management can be nipped in the bud. Renewable wastes can then be taken to recycling plants. Segregating the waste at the source has another huge advantage. The non-renewable waste transported to the dumping sites, besides being less in quantity, will be free of stench, one of the biggest inconveniences that locals living around the landfill sites have to endure.
The diminished volume, on the other hand, also ensures that landfill sites are not used up quickly. Perhaps, we can go a step further and incinerate the non-renewable waste before disposing it as it reduces the volume of waste by 90 percent. Maybe, this is a little too ambitious at present for a country like Nepal that is plagued by other bigger problems but this is something that we should keep in mind. Countries such as Singapore that adopt the best practices from around the world see incineration as a very effective waste management tool. Singapore’s case maybe different from Nepal as land is extremely scarce there but our country too will have to eventually learn to use land frugally as population grows and cities expand.
The most important thing, however, is the implementation of the Act. Nepal, we feel, is not where it is because of the lack of rules, regulations and acts. It is the non-implementation of written words that is the greatest deterrent in our path of progress. At a time when people are suffering from a bevy of political problems, there are at least a few things that they deserve to have, not least of them is the right to live in a clean and a healthy neighborhood.
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