Abstract
The recovery of materials from municipal solid waste (MSW) reduces burden on natural resources, facilitates reduction of environmental risks by reducing the amount of waste to be disposed off at landfill site and also saves operation costs for final disposal. This paper aims to quantify the current status of reusable and recyclable fractions and presents the trend of material recovery from MSW in Kathmandu Valley of Nepal.300 scrap shops were surveyed randomly to estimate the amount of reusable and recyclable materials recovered from MSW. The MSW composition of municipalities in Kathmandu Valley provides a great potential for material recovery. In an average, 44% of MSW is comprised of major reusable and recyclable materials (i.e., plastic, papers, metal, glass, rubber and leather, and textiles), among which more than 250 metric tons day−1 (MTD) is being currently recovered. The study shows the increasing trend of recovery of materials from MSW in Kathmandu Valley over the years, from 100 MTD in 2005 to 140 MTD in 2013, and 250 MTD in 2017. The current economic value of these recovered materials at source of generation is estimated to be yearly US$ 18 million (US$1.00 = NRs. 100.00).
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Pathak, D.R., Mainali, B. (2019). Status and Opportunities for Materials Recovery from Municipal Solid Waste in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. In: Zhan, L., Chen, Y., Bouazza, A. (eds) Proceedings of the 8th International Congress on Environmental Geotechnics Volume 1. ICEG 2018. Environmental Science and Engineering(). Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2221-1_46
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2221-1_46
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