<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016114/636d138d9c7e80680e0a992ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="2000"/><figcaption>Photo: KUNDA DIXIT</figcaption></figure>While almost 10% of the Nepali population continues to live without power, the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has begun to export surplus electricity to India citing the absence of transmission lines to transport power to load centres.Nepal reached a deal with the Indian Energy Exchange (IEE) on 1 November and from the following day began exporting up to 39MW of surplus electricity to India as part of the first phase of the agreement. However, even while the country sold excess electricity across the border, many parts of the far western districts of Bajhang, Dolpa, Bajura, Jumla and Mugu are not yet connected to the national grid.Three major transmission lines are in various stages of construction: the Butwal-Bhairawa double circuit which was started two years ago, the Biratnagar-Inaruwa 132KV line that began five years ago, and the Inaruwa-Dhalkewar-Hetauda 400KV transmission line which was started a decade ago.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/india-nepal-sign-power-exchange-deal/">India, Nepal sign power exchange deal</a><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016114/636d13909c7e80680e0a992bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1960" height="1204">The market for electricity expands beyond the border, but industries at home, particularly cement and steel, are still unable to operate at full capacity due to the unavailability of required electricity.The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/insider-trading-taints-nepal-capital-market/">Sarvottam Cement factory</a> in Sunwal of West Nawalparasi has been forced to reduce working hours and run on generators, as the NEA only supplies 8MW of electricity from the 20MW required for the factory to run at full capacity. Of that, only 6MW of the electricity is actually usable because of circuitry and voltage issues.To make up for the shortage, Sarvottam Cement set up its own diesel-powered plant, but this only adds to the cost. NEA supplies electricity at Rs10 per unit, while a unit of electricity from a diesel-powered plant costs Rs27.“The country and industry both would have prospered had the government prioritised transmission lines and increased electricity consumption within the country," says Surendra Mahaseth, manager of the electricity department at the factory. The government made a policy-level decision last year to extend the national grid, prioritising cement and agro-based industries. But delays in the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/generating-electricity-and-cash-for-nepalis/">construction of transmission</a> lines have stymied progress.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016114/636d13939c7e80680e0a992cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1198" height="1227"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>It is not just industries that are worried. Private power producers which have already started construction are worried that their power will have limited distribution because of the lack of adequate transmission lines. Adding to their doom and gloom is the protracted delay in ratifying the US-supported $500 million <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/power-politics-delays-mcc-in-nepal/">Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) project</a> to build a 400kVA transmission line in Central Nepal to distribute power westwards as well as to India through the Butwal corridor.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/missing-links-in-nepals-mcc-debate/">Missing links in Nepal’s MCC debate</a>, Jeevan R Sharma and David Seddon<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/mcc-damned-if-we-do-damned-if-we-dont/">MCC: damned if we do, damned if we don’t</a>Meanwhile, the Argakhanchi Cement Industry requires a transformer with a capacity of 20 mega-volt ampere (MVA) for its operation, but is only supplied with one for 10 MVA. Like Sarvottam cement, it has set up its own diesel power plant that produces 2.5MVA current.“We have been asking for as much electricity as we can get, and have been promised that it will be available soon,” says Uddhav Karki, manager of Argakhanchi Cement industry. “We will have to see if that happens.”<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016114/636d13959c7e80680e0a992djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="750" height="352">Meanwhile, NEA has started supplying electricity this week through its 132kV Bardaghat-Sari transmission line to supply 30MW of power to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/going-is-tough-for-chinese-investor-in-nepal/">Hongshi Cement Nepal-China joint venture in Nawalparasi</a>. There is hope that more will follow, but so far Hongshi looks like the exception.The NEA has cited delays in building substations and transmission lines as the reason why it cannot distribute surplus electricity during the monsoon, leading to its wasteful ‘spill’. It has blamed private landowners haggling over compensation for transmission lines over their property and lengthy legal battles for the delays."All planned transmission lines under construction across the country should have been completed within two years, but there is a lot of local opposition,” says NEA spokesperson Suresh Bahadur Bhattarai. “If only these pylons could be laid, we could reach customers and not have to waste a single watt.”However, others blame the scarcity of electricity on policymakers who prefer to export electricity rather than expand and expedite transmission lines and substations to increase access within Nepal.“It is like selling food to a neighbour while your own family goes hungry,” says water resource expert Ratna Sansar Shrestha. “We would have earned much more by increasing electricity consumption in the country and reducing the use of fossil fuels. This is the result of a three-decade-long ‘grand design’ by the Nepal government to earn profit by exporting electricity instead of building infrastructure within the country.”NEA could actually earn more from selling power domestically instead of exporting it. Nepal’s private industries are paying up to Rs11 per unit in electrical bills, while the average price of electricity sold to India is just Rs4.33 per unit.Environmental campaigner <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/breathing-is-hazardous-to-health/">Bhushan Tuladhar</a> agrees that successive governments have failed to increase domestic electricity consumption by either not having the transmission lines to take it to load centres, or pricing it too high. He asks: “Why has the government not taken any steps to operate trolleybuses and electric public transportation despite having included it in multiple five-year plans?”He adds that the government has failed to form an environment protection and climate change management committee even though it made a promise to do so years ago.Adds Tuladhar: “When the government fails to build proper infrastructure and a strategic plan to increase electricity consumption for Nepali industries, transportation and households, it is left with no choice but to export it.”Translated from <a href="https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/126589">the original</a> by Shristi Karki.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/how-they-kept-nepal-in-the-dark-ages/">How they kept Nepal in the dark ages</a>, Ramesh Kumar<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-1st-hydroelectric-plant-is-a-museum-piece/">Nepal’s 1st hydroelectric plant is a museum piece,</a> Ramesh Bhushal

Anita Bhetwal

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Nepal’s precious electricity going waste

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141148/636d011b9c7e80680e0a3611jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>Photo: AMIT MACHAMASI</figcaption></figure>The good people of Okharpauwa in Nuwakot finally signed a ceasefire agreement with the litterbugs of Kathmandu last week to not refuse our refuse anymore. So, just as we had started getting used to living with garbage, here we are having to adjust to clean sidewalks all over again.Pity, because rubbish heaps had become such an important part of everyday life that it had become a vibrant symbol of our nascent federal democratic republic, an emblem of our hard-won freedoms. So let no nation (especially neighbouring countries currently trying to move our border pillars) underestimate our resolve to pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to safeguard our right to litter wherever we want within Nepal's sovereign territory.The rotting rubbish was proof that we are well on our way to attaining Middle Income Status by 2025. The fact that we can throw away so much stuff means we have much more where it came from, which in turn shows that Nepal’s GDP is relentlessly rising.The garbage dumps had also become important repositories of endangered species of plant, animal and fungal life. These biodiversity reserves were the last remaining refuge for the Greater Urban Holy Cow (Bos nipalensis) whose alimentary tracts evolved to allow them to digest styrofoam. By moving the rubbish we have removed the last habitat for endangered species, and their disappearance will be a loss not just to Nepal, but for the planet at large.The absence of the friendly neighbourhood garbage piles also means that we have lost vital navigation waypoints that had replaced Google maps to help people find their way around in a city without street names and house numbers.We can no longer give visitors directions on how to get to the Nepali Times office by telling them to take Tootle to Pulchok, and follow the smell of the decaying trash at the intersection, turn left after 50m, and we are the brick building above the momo shop. If you see another, bigger garbage pyramid blocking the road, then you have gone too far.We now know that no two biodegradable garbage heaps smell the same. The one on our street has the bouquet of rotting water buffalo viscera combined with the aroma of fish scales in an advanced stage of fermentation, recalling the sophisticated odour halfway between mature gorgonzola and a freshly-cut wet toenail.However, the Ass had noticed that the garbage mound at the gateway to Thamel has an even stronger olfactory quotient, clocking 8.5 magnitude on the open-ended Richter scale that can knock over innocent bystanders within a radius of 20m from the epicentre.The Hotel Association has belatedly realised the tourism potential of charging an entry fee to drop by at Kathmandu’s garbage piles, which have become such popular selfie-spots for foreign visitors. It is upon us to restore the rubbish, and preserve this important part of the city’s cultural heritage.

The Ass

Garbage in, garbage out

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101124/636b71f99c7e80680e0600fejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>Photo : KHAALISISI</figcaption></figure>Real entrepreneurship is about innovation, executing ideas, consistency, not giving up easily and not worrying too much about finding investors immediately.Prospective entrepreneurs do not need an MBA from an expensive international university: they start with a great idea and a bit of money, and they set about implementing the idea step by step.Young entrepreneur Aayushi KC is a good example of this. She quit a secure job at an international aid agency to start her own company, Khaalisisi Management. Khaalisisi uses a digital platform to link garbage sellers and buyers for waste transactions. It was an unusual idea, and many thought KC had lost her mind.Read Also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/a-load-of-rubbish-kathmandus-garbage-problem,4039" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A load of rubbish,</a> Sahina Shrestha<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/making-money-from-garbage-in-kathmandu,2055" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rupees from rubbish,</a> Sahina Shrestha“Every time I shared my idea, people laughed and ridiculed me. Nobody had done this kind of business before and so everyone was sceptical,” she recalls. But she was determined to use this sustainable business solution to clean up Kathmandu.It wasn’t easy, as KC had no technical background on information technology, recycling waste or garbage management. All she had were the facts and a motivation to make her idea work.She did her own research and met experts and people who were already recycling garbage. And it was after meeting Kathmandu’s waste collectors that KC learnt how <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/recycle-reuse-reduce-garbage-kathmandu,1279" target="_blank" rel="noopener">waste management</a> works in practice.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihLCphyeO6o&amp;t=6sThere are about 13,000 collectors in Kathmandu alone, and there was already a network of people managing waste by recycling in their own way. KC decided to partner with them.“They are the real waste entrepreneurs who deserve to be respected and the society needs to dignify their hard work and not disrespect them,” says KC. She shares that one of the best rewards for her is to see collectors get more respect after they started working with Khaalisisi, which provides them with uniforms and ID cards. The company employs 300 collectors, who are known as Khaalisisi Friends.Read Also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/returning-to-nepal-has-its-rewards/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Returning to Nepal has its rewards</a>, Naresh Newar<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/rupeshs-epic-journey/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rupesh's epic journey</a>, Naresh NewarThe way it works is this: Khaalisisi connects the collectors with waste sellers through the Khaalisisi digital platform, social media and phone apps. Waste sellers, mostly city residents with a lot of trash, contact the Khaalisisi team for a pick-up. The company then contacts the waste collectors, who make house calls to purchase the waste. Recyclables are then sold on the market, and Khaalisisi gets a commission.This process has apparently helped waste collectors increase their incomes. They no longer need to roam neighbourhoods on their bicycles, shouting to attract the attention of residents.In just three years, Khaalisisi has become a recognized brand gaining popularity in Nepal and abroad for its novel approach to sustainability. In 2018, Forbes listed KC in its 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneurs, selected from thousands of online nominations. In December she was one of the top five youth social entrepreneurs out of 1,000 competitors from 90 countries to speak during the World Bank Youth Summit in Washington DC. The Asia Society also included her as one of the 2019 Class of Asia 21 Young Leaders.“This is a business-for-profit initiative, but as a company we also have a social responsibility to educate people on how to manage their own waste and create a better environment starting with our own neighbourhoods,” says KC, whose team also visits schools to urge them to manage their own waste. The government also needs to step in to give incentives to people who actively reduce, recycle and reuse, she says.Khaalisi and other business initiatives involving waste management are gaining traction as awareness grows worldwide about sustainability, environmental degradation, plastic pollution in the rivers and seas and the climate crisis.“There was nothing extraordinary about our business idea. We all have great ideas but they will come to nothing if we fail execute them. I acted on a simple idea and that was the starting point to build this company,” says KC, now 30.Read Also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/staying-in-nepal-to-create-jobs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Staying in Nepal to create jobs</a>, Naresh Newar

Nepali entrepreneur turns trash into cash

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdJPUVWW9U4&amp;feature=youtu.beMt Everest has been called the ‘The World’s Highest Garbage Dump’ or ‘The Toilet Paper Trail’, but the international media has missed the good news: that Sagarmatha National Park is cleanest it has been since tourism started in the 1960s. And it is about to become even more garbage free as every visitor will be asked to volunteer to take down 1kg of trash back for collection by recyclers at Kathmandu airport.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a58379c7e80680e05481fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="938" height="1005"/>Photo: TOMMY GUSTAFSSON<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a583a9c7e80680e054820jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1191" height="1257">Photo: ALTON C BYERSA ‘Carry Me Back’ bag that will contain 1kg of pre-processed solid waste that tourists will carry back to recycling facilities in Kathmandu.The spring 2019 climbing season saw another surge of international media coverage with daily stories of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/most-days-its-not-so-crowded-on-mt-everest/">‘traffic jams’</a>, newly exposed garbage, bodies and helicopter parts that surfaced as the mountain thawed due to climate change.Some 400 tons of plastic, metals, glass and other refuse is generated each year by lodges catering to the tourist industry, the bulk of it burned and buried in some 75 community landfills located near villages along the Everest Trail. Burnable garbage includes plastics that poison the air, contaminate the water, and create new health hazards for humans and livestock alike.Read Also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/living-below-nepals-melting-mountains/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Living below Nepal's melting mountains,</a> Alton C Byers<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://nepalitimes.atavist.com/high-water" target="_blank" rel="noopener">High Water,</a> Alton C Byers in the Barun Valley<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a583c9c7e80680e054821jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1016" height="762"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a583f9c7e80680e054822jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1016" height="762">Typical garbage pit outside of a village, usually out of sight of the main trekking trail. Landfills are particularly problematic in the alpine zone above 4,000m, where decomposition processes are much slower than those at lower, warmer and more humid environments. Photos: ALTON C BYERS<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a58419c7e80680e054823jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1218" height="1642"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>It hasn’t always been this way. When I first visited the <a style="background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: 0.15px;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/more-trekkers-more-trees/">Khumbu in 1973</a>, there were no lodges, the total number of tourists per year was under 2,000 and virtually no solid waste was produced. Food came in reusable packaging (doko baskets, cloth bags) and meals consisted of rice, lentils, potatoes and some vegetables.By the 1980s and 1990s a few lodges started being built, and trekking groups camped in village potato fields rented out by landowners. By the early 2000s the rush to build lodges to feed and shelter the growing numbers of tourists took off, transforming the cultural landscape. With lodges came both greater tourist numbers as well as an increased demand for consumables like beer, whiskey, wine, bottled water, fruit cocktail, sunscreen, TVs and batteries, with their non-biodegradable packaging. It all ended up in refuse pits to be routinely burned.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a58449c7e80680e054824jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="328"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a58469c7e80680e054825jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="328"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Going by the international press narrative, the problem is bad and getting worse. Are the Sherpa people, Sagarmatha National Park and government doing nothing about it? <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/everest-garbage-caravan/">Far from it.</a> More than 20 years ago, the <a href="http://www.spcc.org.np">Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC) </a>was launched as a local initiative to manage waste. Since then, the SPCC and its partners have installed 106 waste collection centres throughout the park, banned glass beer bottles, organised <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/expeditions-brings-down-11-tons-of-mt-everest-trash/">annual Base Camp clean ups</a>, conducted compost trainings, and continually look for new and innovative solutions to the challenges of managing the waste generated. Not much of this is reported by the international media.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a58489c7e80680e054826jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="961" height="647"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>During two solid-waste workshops facilitated by the University of Colorado and Arizona State University in Namche Bazaar and Kathmandu last month, local stakeholders were looking for innovative new ways to manage the waste of 60,000 trekkers and climbers, plus their support staff, who are in the park every year. The SPCC is now working with <a href="https://sagarmathanext.com/about-us/">Sagarmatha Next</a>, which is setting up segregation stations for a ‘carry me back’ program, where every tourist agrees to take back 1kg of waste to recycling centres in Kathmandu.The trek from Lukla to Everest Base Camp has long been referred to as the ‘toilet paper trail’ -- today it is anything but. In spite of the growing numbers of visitors, support staff and pack animals, it is one of the cleanest and most beautiful treks in the high mountain world.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a584a9c7e80680e054827jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="633" height="475"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Of course, a lot more needs to be done. Participants at the Namche and Kathmandu workshops stressed the need for innovation to deal with solid waste in a location-specific way, while being sensitive to local culture and values. The first step is establishment of waste separation centres, pre-processing facilities (shredding, compacting, baling) and finding way to transport the material to recycling centres in Kathmandu and elsewhere. Some of the aluminium and plastic waste is already being turned into ‘Everest Art’ to be sold for fund-raising. Aluminium cans are also converted into utilitarian objects like frying pans and other utensils. Human waste can be addressed through new solar technology, and more efficient septic tanks can prevent leakage.As a first step, Colorado and Arizona will be working with the local government ahead of the autumn trekking season to follow up the recommendations of the workshops. A landfill-free and waste-free Sagarmatha National Park, where garbage is not burnt, can be a reality in a few years. It could provide a much needed model for other mountain areas where the problems of tourist-related solid and human waste management exist.The difference is, things get done in the Khumbu.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a584c9c7e80680e054828jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="633" height="475"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a584e9c7e80680e054829jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="240" height="320"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a584f9c7e80680e05482ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="960">Photo: TOMMY GUSTAFSSON<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108141120/636a58529c7e80680e05482bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="960">Photo: ALTON C BYERSSagarmatha Next's Interpretation Centre in Syangboche.Alton C Byers, PhD, is a mountain geographer, conservationist and mountaineer specialising in applied research, high altitude ecosystems, climate change and glacier hazards. Field work for this project was supported by a grant from the National Geographic Society.

Everest fights back

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131144/636a4f899c7e80680e04fd11jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1920" height="1080"/>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byB2UFWlCs4&amp;feature=youtu.beWhen actress, fashion designer and, more recently, the director of her debut film #Horror, Tara Subkoff, popularised the term ‘upcycling’, she may not have known that she was launching a new fashion trend. Even in faraway Nepal.Young, idealistic Nepali social entrepreneurs may have borrowed the word, but they have gone beyond the world of fashion to craft items for everyday household use repurposed from products that would otherwise be discarded at landfill sites. The idea is not just to be trendy and smart, but also to address growing environmental concerns among customers about garbage, pollution and consumerism.In this centrefold, Nepali Times profiles some companies that have upscaled upcycling to a whole new level.<h2>Shailee Crafts</h2><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131144/636a4f8c9c7e80680e04fd12jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1080" height="1350">PHOTOS: SHAILEE CRAFTSAfter water buffaloes are converted into momos, their innards are often discarded by the banks of Kathmandu’s rivers, where kites, crows and dogs pick at them, while their bones are ground into powdered <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/getting-our-shit-together/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fertiliser</a>.But lately, some of the horns and bones are collected from butcher shops and taken to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG-de1eofhM&amp;t=9s&amp;fbclid=IwAR01xSi7CBBWUnHIHBQ_4KNnc1xArLG-P0BHnDz0ZOhmVzw1OH6Re_kojZ0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shailee Crafts</a>, where they are turned into carved figures, pendants and buttons.Shailee was set up by the father of Success Dhamala and his brother Shailesh to make handicraft items that had a strangely Polynesian look. In 2013, years after their father’s shop went out of business, Success and Shailesh revived the business to sell modern items with ethnic designs, made from natural and sustainable materials.Their raw material of choice: buffalo horns and bones. The raw materials are gathered, cleaned, cut, shaped and carved by the steady hands of local artisans, who use traditional Nepali tools to fashion intricate Maori designs like the Pikorua (twist), Toki or Hei-Matau (fish hook). Buttons and statues are made with keen attention given to minute details, each ridge and curve carved with precision.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131144/636a4f8e9c7e80680e04fd13jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="800"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131144/636a4f919c7e80680e04fd14jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1080" height="1620"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131144/636a4f949c7e80680e04fd15jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="800">Shailee Crafts also makes pendants based on Game of Thrones themes, with the sigils of House Stark, Targaryen and Greyjoy. And beyond the traditional Pacific or pop culture designs, the brothers also turn buffalo bones into quirky buttons with geometric cutouts and unorthodox patterns.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131144/636a4f969c7e80680e04fd16jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1080" height="1350"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131144/636a4f999c7e80680e04fd17jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1080" height="1080"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131144/636a4f9c9c7e80680e04fd18jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="720" height="900">Although upcycling bones and horns is new to Nepal, pendants made from carved bones have been an integral part of Polynesian and Maori culture for centuries. Leftover bones from animals have been used to create traditional jewellery, like fish hook pendants, or hunting tools, like spears.“When we first started using buffalo bones for pendants, we were just following what they do elsewhere, but we realised we were also reducing <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15234#.XTBlpfIzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kathmandu’s waste </a>by upcycling,” says Success Dhamala.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131144/636a4f9f9c7e80680e04fd19jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1080" height="1080">Prayer beadsShailee Crafts uses natural products like hemp and recycled fabric for the buffalo bone necklaces, adding a modern feel to traditional Tibetan prayer beads and ensuring that horns and bones do not come from buffaloes that have been sacrificed.The store also conducts weekly carving workshops on Sundays, where visitors can hone their skills carving horns with traditional tools.<h2>Lahana Paper Crafts</h2><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131144/636a4fa19c7e80680e04fd1ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="193" height="257"> PHOTOS: LAHANA PAPERPaper makes up 9% of Kathmandu’s household waste and 23% of commercial waste. Although discarded in landfills, much of this is actually recyclable.Co-Founder Ramita Maharjan first got the idea for Lahana Paper Crafts while an undergrad at Kathmandu University. She learnt to turn discarded paper into baskets and jewellery, and today, the company employs women and reduces paper waste in the city.At Lahana, newspapers, magazines, school books, invitation cards, calendars, brochures and comic books are transformed into colourful earrings, necklaces, bracelets, pens, even laundry baskets. Discarded paper is gathered and shredded into strips, and rolls of paper are turned into ‘beads’ and attached to metal pieces, or woven into baskets.The work is done by local women, who sit in a circle chatting away as their nimble fingers skilfully weave rolls of paper around waste baskets or cut up old magazines and newspapers faster than a machine. Maharjan makes sure that the women are paid well and given meals and transportation fees.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131144/636a4fa49c7e80680e04fd1bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1242" height="1191"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131144/636a4fa79c7e80680e04fd1cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1242" height="1164">Like any other upcycling business, Lahana Paper Crafts also faces difficulties in convincing customers to buy its products. Many in Kathmandu still doubt the durability of the products, even though they are sturdy. Besides, it is the thought of being less wasteful that counts.Today, Lahana has buyers from all over Nepal and even abroad. Maharjan also holds workshops to train people interested in making paper accessories.She adds, “Our products are becoming more popular because they are handicrafts and they help manage paper waste.”<h2>Taalo</h2>When clothing items like saris, t-shirts, kurtas and shawls are made, unused fabric is just thrown away. Sujhan Ghimire set up Taalo to repurpose these scraps into wearable fashion items. He designs all the products himself and has curated a line of brightly coloured ties and bow-ties, scrunchies, headbands and scarves, all within the Rs120-200 price range.From silks to chiffons and Lycra to cotton, Taalo’s products are made from a variety of available and usable fabric.To reduce fabric waste, the business has also partnered with textile factories, clothes manufacturers and even tailors to upcycle and recycle their scrap.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131144/636a4faa9c7e80680e04fd1djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="758" height="1132">PHOTO: ABHILASHA SHRESTHAAt first, Ghimire found it hard to convince consumers to buy his products. Many were sceptical about upcycling and believed the products were made from used clothes. After an awareness campaign to explain that the fabrics were never worn, sales boomed.Now in its second year of operations, Taalo has a consumer base that runs from teenagers to environmentally-conscious adults. The company’s popularity is also a result of growing consumer consciousness among Kathmandu citizens, who see a lot of trash lying about. People are becoming more aware of sustainable alternatives to products that they want to buy.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131144/636a4fac9c7e80680e04fd1ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="1334">PHOTO: TAALOGhimire’s venture is not only environmentally conscious, but also socially aware. The <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=12487#.XTBm__IzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kamlari </a>women from Nepalganj who manufacture Taalo’s products are paid an extra Rs2 for every product that they make, in addition to their daily wages.“People are becoming more aware about what they are spending money on and where the products come from,” Ghimire explains. “At Taalo, they can buy things they want knowing that they are helping both women from underprivileged backgrounds and the environment.”Ghimire says he now wants to expand Taalo’s upscaled product line to include bracelets and even backpacks.<h2>Tatwa</h2>In the last fiscal year, Nepal imported 10 million bottles of alcohol. While some of them are recycled, many cannot be rebottled in Nepal and end up as shards of glass on the banks of rivers and around <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/recycle-reuse-reduce-garbage-kathmandu,1279" target="_blank" rel="noopener">landfill sites</a>.Doko Recyclers has been collecting garbage house-to-house in Kathmandu to covert organic waste into fertiliser and recycle other material. Now, it has launched a new brand for upcycled products called Tatwa, which takes unrecyclable imported beer, wine and liquor bottles and converts them into candle holders, drinking glasses, tumblers, glass containers and even toothpick holders. Tatwa has so far repurposed over 6,000 imported bottles collected from households, restaurants and hotels around the country.Discarded bottles are first thoroughly cleaned and sterilised before being cut down by industrial machines. Then comes the time-consuming, labour-intensive sanding and finishing phase to give the products a smooth texture. With Tatwa’s minimalistic and logoless designs, the finished products barely resemble the alcohol bottles they once were.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131144/636a4faf9c7e80680e04fd1fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="4142" height="3100"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131144/636a4fb29c7e80680e04fd20jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1444" height="960"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131144/636a4fb59c7e80680e04fd21jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="1500">Says Tatwa’s Shivani Saria, “We rethink each item considered to be waste, where it comes from, what its source element is and how a thoughtful recovery of those items would mean valuing the environment and understanding waste from a new perspective.”Tatwa means ‘element’ in Nepali, and Saria says the venture is all about focusing on the importance of understanding waste as a resource that has lost utility in its present form. Beyond blue and green-hued glass products, Tatwa is also working on items like metal straws, bamboo toothbrushes and reusable cloth bags. It hopes to create an entire range of sustainable upcycled products to replace objects of daily use.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131144/636a4fb89c7e80680e04fd22jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="750">PHOTOS: TATWASaria says, “Recycling in Nepal is a new industry and there are not many recycling facilities, which is why we have to explore options in upcycling, turning non-recyclable and difficult to recycle <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/reusing-waste,1280" target="_blank" rel="noopener">waste </a>items into products that can re-enter the market. With upcycling, we reduce waste that would otherwise end up in the landfill with creative business ventures that also generate jobs.”<h2>Dhaasoo</h2>When Dhaasoo was established in 2015, no one in Kathmandu really knew what upcycling was. Four years later, Dhaasoo has changed the game for reusable utilities and home decor.Dhaasoo is Bollywood movie slang that roughly translates to ‘daami’ in Nepali or ‘awesome’ in English. Founder Nitesh Sharma wanted an attention-grabbing name to draw customers to a new concept. It worked.From glass bottles to cans, car parts and even cars, Dhaasoo has upcycled and sold them all. It has upcycled hookahs, lamps, planters, book shelves and even a desk made from an Eco Sport car.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131144/636a4fba9c7e80680e04fd23jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="562" height="562"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131144/636a4fbc9c7e80680e04fd24jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1080" height="1080">Dhaasoo works on one project a day, taking requests for customised products or selling in-house designs. Customers either arrive with a product concept in mind and guide the designers, or they simply ask the company to create something new. Many of the products are therefore literally ‘priceless’.“Our products don’t have price tags because everything is made to order,” Sharma explains. “We never know what the customer will request and what it will cost.”But while Dhaasoo is becoming popular, it is not what you would call mass market. Sharma still struggles to make people understand that just because a product is upcycled it is not always cheaper, as a lot of work goes into repurposing those materials.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131144/636a4fbf9c7e80680e04fd25jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="758" height="611">PHOTOS: DHAASOO<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131144/636a4fc29c7e80680e04fd26jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2554" height="1937">Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Kathmandu-waste-management-problem-solution,1416" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Waste should not be wasted</a>, Bhrikuti Rai<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/business/return-to-nature/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Return to nature</a>, Nepali Times<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/plastic-money/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Plastic money</a>, Samuel Johns<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/making-money-from-garbage-in-kathmandu,2055" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rupees from rubbish</a>, Sahina Shrestha

Upscaling Upcycling

<figure><img width="1400" height="1050" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811110/636a28a59c7e80680e045883jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: SONIA AWALE</figcaption></figure>For someone who jet sets around the world, hobnobbing with governments and scientists to promote affordable and ecological toilets, Roshan Shrestha found out for himself just how difficult maintaining loos can be during a recent visit to his home in Nepal.The Seattle-based 55-year-old sanitation expert (pictured below) found that the septic tank at his family home below Swayambhu was overflowing. But he had no clue who to turn to, and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/where-to-take-a-dump/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">how to get it emptied</a>. “I did not know where to go,” recalled Shrestha during a break at a Faecal Sludge Management Conference last week in Cape Town. “If it was so difficult for me, I can only imagine how hard it must be for the general public.”Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/toilet-trained/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Toilet trained</a>, Sonia Awale<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/where-to-take-a-dump/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Where to take a dump</a>, Bhushan TuladharShrestha finally got in touch with a private service provider and got the problem fixed after a few days. With over 30 years of experience in improving sanitation, Shrestha was promoted last month as Deputy Director of the Urban Sanitation Markets at the <a href="https://www.gatesfoundation.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation</a> (BMGF).Shrestha is a leading authority in the field, and involved in the BMGF’s <a href="https://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Growth-and-Opportunity/Water-Sanitation-and-Hygiene/Reinvent-the-Toilet-Challenge-and-Expo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reinvent the Toilet Challenge</a> that has scientists around the world competing for the best design of a new generation of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/toilet-trained/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">toilets</a> that do not use water, are cheap to install and easy to operate.Shrestha has been recognised for promoting water and sanitation projects in Nepal with his new responsibility at the BMGF, a philanthropic arm of the founder of Microsoft.Says environmental expert Bhushan Tuladhar: “Roshan is passionate about sanitation, and does not treat it as just another job. He has great commitment and perseverance. His success is well deserved and it is only fitting that the foundation has recognised it.”Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/getting-our-shit-together/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Getting our shit together</a>, EditorialThe Gates Foundation’s Brian Abrogast said of Shrestha’s promotion: “Roshan Shrestha has been the best ambassador the foundation could ask for, exuding respect and compassion while generating admiration – and impressive results.”The BMGF’s toilet challenge has prompted top scientists from China, India and other parts of the world to come up with innovative new designs, from solar-powered smart toilets that generate hydrogen and electricity to sanitation systems that convert human waste into biological charcoal, fuel gas, minerals and clean water.Shrestha had humble beginnings in a public school in Kathmandu before getting an MSc from Tribhuvan University in 1988. He worked in a water analysis laboratory to test the water in the Bagmati River. And later founded <a href="http://enpho.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Environment and Public Health Organisation</a> (ENPHO) that specialises in research and monitoring. Later, he got a PhD from a university in Austria in limnology, the study of inland water bodies. On his return, Shrestha successfully marketed the popular water purifier called Piyush.Shrestha went on to introduce Nepal’s first wetland system in Dhulikhel for small-scale wastewater treatment and reuse, and designed Nepal’s first faecal sludge treatment plant in Teku in 1998.“It was at this point that I realised that water quality would never improve without upgrading sanitation. At the root of water pollution is poorly managed sanitation,” said Shrestha, who then became involved in <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/dont-wait-for-melamchi-nepal,3765" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rainwater harvesting</a> and turned his residence into a model eco-home complete with urine diversion dry toilet.After a stint at UN HABITAT as a South Asia region technical adviser, he was convinced toilet technology had to be less water-intensive to improve sanitation in the developing countries. “We claim to have over 90% <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/getting-our-shit-together/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">latrine coverage in Nepal</a> but most structures do not meet required standards, and that is why we need a new breakthrough in toilets,” said Shrestha.The Gates Foundation has invested heavily in developing new  technologies that can destroy pathogens on site through faecal sludge management.“If a vast country like India can clean up its act, why can’t Nepal? All we need is political will and proactive leadership committed to improving sanitation,” adds Shrestha, whose foundation is currently developing a new course on sanitation at Kathmandu University, and working with Nepal Bureau of Standards on a new <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15235#.XHfVCMAzaUk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">toilet</a> standard.Here in Cape Town at the global conference he helped put together,  Shrestha says his goal is still to go back to Nepal: “I plan to head home, but after we have developed an adaptable technology for safer sanitation in developing countries so we can promote it in Nepal as well.”

Sonia Awale

Toilet trained expert

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxID1RV9zsg&amp;feature=youtu.beHeaps of discarded CRT monitors and keyboards are stacked one above the other. Tube lights, lamps and PVC panels are piled up at another corner. Old printers, television sets, cassette players, refrigerators, heaters and even laundry machines are piled high in a tangle of cables.Here at the <a href="https://dokorecyclers.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Doko Recyclers’</a> warehouse in Sano Thimi, a staff in protective gear is hard at work segregating a new batch of electronic waste collected from Kathmandu neighbourhoods. A technician is trying to repair a laptop, but most other items are set aside to extract valuable metals for reuse.The warehouse is already bursting at the seams with more than 55 tons of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/dangerous-ewaste,2953" target="_blank" rel="noopener">electronic waste</a> that have been collected in just the past year after it was set up.Yet the mountains of batteries, computers and electronic items here represent only the tip of the iceberg. Most e-waste in Nepal is just dumped with the rest of the trash at landfills.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107141112/636904a89c7e80680e037d36jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="933"/><figcaption>Photo: SONIA AWALE</figcaption></figure>The disposal of electronic waste like toner cartridges and <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/International/international-old-handy-metals,698" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mobile phones</a> is particularly challenging as they have negative recycling value and contain hazardous material like mercury, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/impact-of-lead-on-intellectual-development%20,3820" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lead</a>, lithium, and heavy metals like cadmium and nickel.“We don’t know what to do with them. As of now we are holding the waste and trying to find a solution to manage it,” admits Pankaj Panjiyar of Doko Recyclers. “We have to find a sustainable solution to manage electronic waste before it becomes too big of a problem to handle.”Worldwide, some <a href="https://collections.unu.edu/eserv/UNU:6341/Global-E-waste_Monitor_2017__electronic_single_pages_.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">45 million tons of electric and electronic waste</a> was produced last year alone, and this has been increasing at 7% a year. According to a <a href="http://www.doenv.gov.np/files/download/Inventory%20Preparation%20of%20E-Waste%20and%20Its%20Management%20in%20Kathmandu%20Valley.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> carried out by Nepal’s Department of Environment, Kathmandu alone discarded 18,000 metric tons of e-waste last year.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107141112/636904ac9c7e80680e037d37jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="874">Another survey earlier this year by Kathmandu University’s Subodh Luitel found that e-waste makes up almost 0.5% of the total municipal waste in Kathmandu, which is close to the global average. That may not seem like a lot, but much more is discarded without the knowledge of the Municipality.“At the pace we are moving, it is guaranteed to be a major crisis,” warned electronic waste management expert Keshav Parajuly at a workshop on e-waste last month in Kathmandu.Increasing purchasing power, planned obsolescence of electronic gadgets and the lack of strict regulation on disposal has eroded the Nepali culture of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/recycle-reuse-reduce-garbage-kathmandu,1279" target="_blank" rel="noopener">repairing, reusing and recycling,</a> according to Sanjay Golcha of the Him Electronics.“On average, Nepalis change their mobile phones every 15 months. More than 6 million phones are imported every year. There has to be a mechanism for their disposal," he added.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107141112/636904ae9c7e80680e037d38jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="746"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Countries in Europe and East Asia are introducing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) that requires consumers to pay a disposal tax at the time of purchase of any electronic good, and manufacturers and importers to take back the end-of-life product to be safely disposed.Lead and lithium batteries from inverters, vehicles and solar systems make up a large portion of the e-waste in Nepal, and it saw a surge during the <a style="background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: 0.15px;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/how-they-kept-nepal-in-the-dark-ages/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">decade of severe power cuts</a>. Nepal has accumulated an estimated 25,000 tons of battery waste, of which nearly 10,000 were from inverters and 8,000 from solar systems.The Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (APEC) plans to establish a semi-automated recycling plan for lead acid batteries, but experts say it is too little, too late. <a style="background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/kundadixit/2018/01/24/electric-cars-shock-fossil-industry/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Electric vehicle</a> use is rising, which means very soon there will be a bigger problem of managing lithium ion batteries that power cars, laptops and smartphones.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107141112/636904b19c7e80680e037d39jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="787">The Solid Waste Management Act 2011 addresses industrial and hazardous waste, but there is no separate mention of e-waste. The public is left with only one option: to sell e-waste to scrap dealers. But recyclers cherrypick the most valuable waste, and this involves unsafe dismantling, extraction of useful metals, and dumping of the hazardous waste in landfills, contaminating the soil, groundwater and rivers.The government doesn’t have any plan on e-waste management as of now, says Safala Shrestha of the Department of Environment. However, a new Hazardous Waste Regulation is being drafted, which addresses the control and management of e-waste, and a ban on illegal import of electronic goods.Nepal is a signatory to the <a href="http://www.basel.int/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Basel Convention</a> that prohibits trans-boundary movement of hazardous waste, unless a country has no local solution for disposal.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107141112/636904b49c7e80680e037d3ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2000" height="1121">Nepal has been exporting most of its e-waste to India, where printed circuit boards and other electronic waste are chemically treated to extract precious elements like gold and silver. Cities like <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/jul/09/indias-unofficial-recycling-bin-the-city-where-electronics-go-to-die-moradabad" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Moradabad</a> and parts of West Bengal are known as ‘goldmines of trash’. But with India and China cracking down on e-waste imports, Nepal will now have to import recycling machines (like bulb eaters that remove mercury from fluorescent lamps) as well as other e-waste, which is still being taken across to India.“There is no prioritisation for electronic waste in our legislation and that is the biggest challenge,” says Eriko Shrestha of Swarthmore College in the US who is researching electronic waste. “The best temporary solution is for our government to negotiate with neighbouring countries, particularly India, to ease the ban on Nepal until we have a more viable option.”Electronic waste is also an opportunity for Nepal to generate income from local resources, in turn to be used to process and treat the trash. Precious metals from electronic components can be recycled to contribute to the national economy. Public, policy and corporate level awareness is an integral part of e-waste management.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107141112/636904b79c7e80680e037d3bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="700">“We need to build our own processing plant here rather than exporting what is essentially a goldmine. We can then reuse and recycle and set up an ecosystem of a circular economy,” solid waste expert Sumitra Amatya told Nepali Times.Ideally, e-waste should be separated from municipal waste and allocated a different landfill site. But with Kathmandu’s only landfill in Okharpauwa <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/a-load-of-rubbish-kathmandus-garbage-problem,4039" target="_blank" rel="noopener">filled to the brim</a>, Nepal Investment Board in partnership with NepWaste, a Finnish joint venture, is working on a project to collect waste from Kathmandu and process it at Banchare Danda to generate compressed natural gas, electricity and fertiliser. The project was proposed long ago, but has been mired in bureaucracy.Said Pankaj Panjiyar of Doko Recyclers: “E-waste is a global problem that needs local solutions. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel, but learn from other countries which are doing it sustainably.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107141112/636904ba9c7e80680e037d3cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="933"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>