Learning in Dhankuta’s waste management success story

At a time when the country’s capital city is grappling with its garbage problem, Dhankuta Municipality is doing exemplary work in waste management. 

Dhankuta is spick and span, thanks to the efficient organization and staff involved in garbage collection and its disposal. But this is only half the story. The town is generating income from its trash. 

The municipality operates a landfill at Salleri, where the town’s wastes are segregated into organic and inorganic matters. The organic waste materials are composted and the inorganic ones (plastics, rubber, glass, metals, etc.) are sold at a scrap value of Rs 12 per kilogram. 

“We have tied up with a private company to sell the segregated inorganic waste materials,” says Upendra Khanal at the environment department of the municipal office. 

Income generated from the trash is invested in development works. Dhankuta generates six tons of garbage daily. There are 39 municipal and contract workers who go from door to door to collect household waste. The collected waste materials are then transported to the landfill by three tractors and one truck. The operation runs like clockwork. 

The garbage collection and landfill itself is a sight to behold. The place looks more like a park than a landfill. The municipality has grown plants and flowers on the land where it buries the town’s organic waste materials. 

“The idea behind growing plants and flowers on top of buried garbage is to reduce methane emissions, which can be harmful to humans and the environment,” says Dhankuta Mayor Chintan Tamang. Dhankuta residents are also important contributors to the town’s waste management success story. 

Ram Bahadur Thapa, chief administrative officer of Dhankuta Municipality, says the town wouldn’t be a clean city if not for the role of the local residents. “All this wouldn’t have worked as well had it not been for the support of the local residents,” he says. “They are helping us keep Dhankuta clean by not disposing of their trash out in the streets and neighborhoods.” The town’s households have adopted a strict rule against littering their communities. 

No matter the quantity of waste accumulated in their house, they make it a point of waiting for the municipal workers to come pick it up. “Our streets and neighborhoods would be full of garbage piles if the local residents didn’t wait for the municipal workers,” says Thapa.

Khem Ghimire, a local resident, says it takes environmentally aware and conscious citizens to keep any town or city clean.“People here are civilized enough to throw their trash in wastebaskets even when they are outside their homes,” he says. Cities like Kathmandu can learn from Dhankuta.