Nepal’s plastic problem mirrors SE Asian economies’ challenges, but it can change its narrative

For decades, low awareness and a near dysfunctional waste management system has resulted in litter either thrown into or dumped on the river banks throughout the valley, which ultimately flows down to the Bagmati river.

Plastic dumped along the hillside in Kathmandu. (Source: Abhimanyu Chakravorty)

The Himalayan country may not be geographically imposing, but its plastic waste footprint certainly is. Nepal’s capital Kathmandu, with a population pushing over 2.5 million, alone uses around 4,700,000 to 4,800,000 plastic bags daily, as per Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). In Nepal, at least 16 per cent of urban waste is comprised of plastic, which translates to 2.7 tonnes of daily plastic garbage production.