Livelihood Status of Itinerant Waste Buyers in Kathmandu

Ashish Khanal^1,

¹Masters in Environment Education and Sustainable Development, Kathmandu University, Lalitpur, Nepal

Cite this paper:
Ashish Khanal. Livelihood Status of Itinerant Waste Buyers in Kathmandu. Applied Ecology and Environmental Sciences. 2021; 9(5):537-540. doi: 10.12691/aees-9-5-4

Abstract

The increasing population and urbanization have played major role in the increase of solid waste generation. As waste management is a complex task, there are various actors responsible for its proper management. Itinerant waste buyers (IWBs) purchase the dry recyclables from households and institutions. This study explored the livelihood status of IWBs working in Kathmandu, Nepal. I used ethnographic research design in doing this study. The discussion was done with IWBs working in Teku-Kalimati, Baudhha, Kalopool and Pepsi-cola areas. The study shows the involvement of people from the Terai region and neighbouring India working as the IWBs and their experiences regarding it. This paper has brought the livelihood status of IWBs, challenges faced and other alternatives works they might be interested in. Apart from this, this study has included the experiences and stories of the IWBs as the main information source to portray the livelihood status of the waste workers. Despite of their hard work and major role in making city clean, facing frequent misbehavior and humiliation, the roles of IWBs in their regular work have been neglected by the people. The obtained information has been discussed together with my personal experiences and field observation with supporting literatures.

Keywords:
waste scrap IWBs Kathmandu

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