Three Bin Waste and Recycling System For Thimphu City

Bhutan is a small landlocked nation sandwiched between China and India. It is 38,394 square kilometres in size, with an overall east-west axis of 300 kilometres and a maximum north-south dimension of 170 kilometres. Bhutan is largely mountainous and densely forested, and it is situated in the eastern Himalayas. It borders Tibet (China's Xizang Autonomous Region) in the north and northwest. The rest of the borders are with India; 605 kilometres with Sikkim in the west, West Bengal in the southwest, Assam in the south and southeast, and Arunachal Pradesh in the east.

Thimphu City

Thimphu City is the Capital of Bhutan, located in the Central Western part of Bhutan along the Wang Chhu River basin. With an area of 26 sq. km, the city stretches 15 km long and km wide. The Population and Housing Census of Bhutan (PHCB 2017) records the population of Thimphu to be 114,551, which is almost 15% of the entire population of the country congested into 0.7% of the total land area (PHCB 2017).

Thimphu grew into a city starting in 1961 when the first roads were build connecting it to the border town of Phuntsholing. That year Bhutan’s 1st five-year-plan (development plans) started and coincidentally Thimphu was also chosen to be the capital of Bhutan. Then came the rapid urbanization, with ever-increasing migration to Thimphu. Notwithstanding the economic opportunities brought about by urbanization, the population growth has exerted pressures on infrastructure, environment, and social fabric. Soaring house rent, pollution, gridlocks, water shortage, substance abuse by youth and accelerating waste generation are some of the issues Thimphu city face.

View of Thimphu City showing Changangzamtog

Waste Generation

Waste collected from residential and industrial regions of cities and towns is referred to as urban waste. If not properly disposed of, processed, or managed, this trash can cause major health and environmental problems.

Increased urban waste creation has stemmed from an expanding population, changing consumption habits, economic development, better family incomes, and greater urbanization and industrialisation. Bhutan produces 172.16 tonnes of waste every day, of which 68% comes from Thimphu City alone.

Overview Of the Waste Management System In Thimphu

The Thimphu City Corporation (TCC) has outsourced its garbage collection system starting January 1, 2015, to gain a better perspective on trash management operations through a competitive bidding procedure. The Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) collection in Thimphu is mostly handled by two service companies. Greener Way oversees collection in the south and central parts of Thimphu, while Clean City oversees collection in the north. In some regions, TCC has also delegated garbage collection to local governments, which entails the participation of residents led by a local leader.

TCC had primarily supplied trash storage containers for temporary garbage storage at various authorized pickup points. The garbage is separated into two categories: dry waste and moist trash. Memelakha landfill receives waste from various places and disposes of it. The dumping of waste at this location began in 1994. It was built with an 8-year life expectancy in mind.

The Need to Overhaul The Waste Management System

There has been a substantial increase in the population of Thimphu City due to rapid urbanization and rapid population growth, and with it, the type and amount of waste generated from homes have increased too. The average waste generated daily is almost to the north of 100 MT per day. As the country's waste volume grows, it becomes more difficult to provide necessary and effective waste management services.

Furthermore, every Bhutanese has a constitutional right to be a trustee of the Kingdom's natural resources and environment for the benefit of present and future generations, and every citizen has a fundamental duty to protect the natural environment, conserve the rich biodiversity and prevent all forms of ecological degradation, according to Article 5 of the Constitution of The Kingdom of Bhutan. Bhutan's 12th Five-Year Development Plan (2019–2023) also prioritizes good waste management, with the absolute quantity of solid waste (in tons) recycled as a major success metric.

Bhutan's Royal Government has adopted several waste management measures. The observance of ‘Zero Waste Hour' on the second day of every month, for example, has given waste management a boost for 2020. The goal of the Zero Waste Hour is to instil a behavioural shift toward good waste management and sustainable consumption habits to create a safe, healthy, and clean environment.

The United Nations Member States approved the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development [4] in 2016, emphasizing the significance of environmental aspects of sustainable development, with trash being included in two of the 17 universally agreed Sustainable Development Goals. Goal 11 is to make cities and human settlements more inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable, whereas Goal 12 is to guarantee that consumption and production patterns are sustainable. The goal of Target 11.6 is to minimize cities' negative per capita environmental impact by 2030, with a focus on air quality and municipal and other waste management.

Target 12.3 is to eliminate food losses in production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses, by halving global per capita food waste at retail and consumer levels by 2030. Target 12.4 is to achieve environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle in accordance with agreed international frameworks by 2030, and to significantly reduce their release to air, water, and soil to minimize their negative impacts on human health and the environment.

One way that the community can be a great help is by reducing the wastage created or even segregating waste at the source. A Japanese village Kamikatsu has shown an excellent example of an entire community coming together to partake in a community recycling programme. Their segregation is almost into 45 categories, which tackles even minute amounts of recyclable materials. This is an excellent commitment from the community, which if replicated in Thimphu can reduce pressure on the lone landfill. But along with this segregation comes the commitment to create less rubbish and recycle as many items as possible.

For Thimphu City, instead of focussing on many, a three-bin system would be possible, which is an improvement from the present ‘dry’ and ‘wet’ waste segregation system.

Southern Thimphu City overlooking Babesa

Introducing The Bins

Typical of what is happening in most developed cities, the three-bin system would include a Yellow for recycling, a Green for food and garden waste mostly organic, and a Red bin for general waste which includes household waste that cannot go in the recycling or organic bin.

The contents of this yellow bin would be sent to the recycling unit at Babesa, where they will be separated, packed, and sent to be recycled to the neighbouring state of India. Items that can be included in this bin are all hard plastic tubs, bottles and containers, glass bottles and jars, steel and aluminium cans and lids, cardboard, paper, newspaper, and magazines. Foil can also be included here.

It is advisable to rinse and empty the containers, remove the lids and place them directly in the bins as it helps during the segregation at the recycling plant.

The Green bin would be for the organic waste from your gardens, including the grass clippings, weeds, twigs, and sticks, pruning, cuttings, trimmings, palm fronds ad tree nuts. Care should be taken not to include the food scraps from the kitchen. The contents of this bin will be sent to Serbithang compost plant to be mulched.

The third and final bin is the Red bin. This is the general waste bin which will include the non-recyclable general waste. Food scraps, soiled items, sanitary items, clothing, soft plastics, nappies, shredded paper, and items contaminated with food. These bins will be taken to the Memelakha landfill.

Why Only Three Bins for Now

Memelakha landfill (the only landfill for Thimphu City) which had a lifespan of 8 years has already exceeded by 19 years. Initially, it was designed to process 8 to 10 Metric Tons (MT) per day but handles 40.3 MT per day (2019). There are no alternate sites to build another landfill due to space constraints. So there is a need for an alternative way to streamline waste management and public participation, instead of creating a new landfill.

People are already familiar with the 2-bin system, or ‘dry-wet' as it is commonly called in Bhutan. The addition of another one is just a small improvement to the already good system.

With more segregation-at-source, the waste at landfills will be reduced, and more recycling will take place. This process will also create awareness among the people and let them participate in the waste segregation process at home.

Potential Issues and Arguments Against

As evident with any new change, there will be resistance and issues that need to be streamlined at the earliest. Of the many major issues that are anticipated the following are the top three.

1. The Cost of Bins

The first is the cost of the bins. Who would bear them? Since this is a strategy to bring the consumers on board, they should not feel the pinch. Thimphu Thromde could provide the bins for free and the replacements at a concession rate. There should be a standard specification of colour, size and quality. The standards are very important as the colours should be uniform, and the quality should be sturdy, and easily recognizable.

2. The Frequency of Collection

Like what is happening at present, the waste collection is outsourced to two private contractors Clean City and Greener Way. They work in tandem with the municipality to plan and implement the route and timings. Thimphu City should procure more garbage trucks and lease to these contractors so that there can be more reach. At present, the waste collection contractors cannot afford to buy more garbage trucks of their own as they are small companies. So since the only way to increase frequency is to increase the number of garbage trucks in the street.

Another thing to note is the actual timing of the collection. Due to the limited number of garbage trucks available and the corresponding areas to cover, the timings are not only inconsistent but also not friendly to the officegoers who leave home before 7am and reach back after 6pm. Due to the unmechanized nature of the curbside pickup, the bins should be physically brought outside to the garbage trucks. So, there is a possibility that a certain percentage of Thimphu’s population might miss the bin-days.

This issue can be solved by having drop-off points at strategic places to cater to that group. These drop-off points can even have large bins with more specific segregation bins, including different for glass, metal etc.

3. Proper Segregation at Source

The third component is the most important issue in this entire change towards a waste-free future. The segregation-at-home is expected to bring a radical change in the behavioural pattern of the consumers. They might choose to analyze and understand their consumption pattern and make necessary changes in behaviour to reduce unnecessary consumption.

So how will this idea of segregation-at-home reach the people of Thimphu City? Vigorous social media campaigns are one way of reaching the knowledge to the public. But here the carrot and stick strategy needs to be implemented. There should be rewards to encourage the participation of the willing, as well as fines for those who fail to follow the rules.

Schools and public gatherings can be used as a medium to advocate and educate on this change.

Behavioural Change of The Consumer

For this endeavour to succeed, public cooperation and participation are of utmost importance. Many cities in developed countries have adopted this as well as the four-bin waste segregation action, and it has worked positively as expected. People are vigorously segregating at home, and even encouraging others to do the same. In major cities, the garbage trucks are a familiar sight, with curbside waste bins out the night before collection day.

Even the consumption pattern of the people seems to have changed. The refusal of single-use straws and plastics, even by the producers themselves are a journey in the right direction. When consumers demand change, the huge cooperation comply. Reusable plastic bags, biodegradable plastic bags, cloth bags have become a norm.

For Bhutan, the plastic ban had happened twice, but the struggle is still a long way (Lhamo 2020). The earlier ban happened some 20 years ago, but the implementation was inefficient. Yet a new and bold initiative in the form of the Waste Management Flagship Programme was launched in 2019, which is expected to focus on Thimphu in the first phase. This will tackle the implementation of three coloured bins and a comprehensive waste management system from source to disposal sites (Lhaden 2020).

Failure Of the Plastic Ban In Bhutan

On 20 April 1999, Bhutan banned the use of plastic bags. In 2009, there were talks of implementing the ban. Two years ago, the National Environment Commission issued a notification to reinforce the ban which took effect from 1 April 2019.

To date this year, customs officials have confiscated about 1,500 kgs of plastic bags at the Mini Dry Port at Phuntsholing. They were being smuggled into from India to be used by business enterprises, especially the vegetable vendors.

Bhutan Centre for Media and Democracy (BCMD) a local NGO has conducted a study on the Evaluation of Plastic Ban and Effectiveness of Alternatives in Thimphu and concluded that either there are no viable alternatives to the ban, the consumers are still unaware of the knowledge of the ban, and there is inefficient follow-up from the concerned organization.

So, it seems that vigorous campaigns to disseminate information to the public would be part of the answer, while follow-up on the ban by imposing strict compliance would be the other part of the solution. Availability of locally produced and cheaper alternatives would encourage people to use them. And this will certainly reduce the usage of plastic by consumers, which will reduce its footprint in the waste-segregation cycle.

Conclusion

The issue on focus for my essay is the three-bin segregation system at source, but it includes changing the mindset of the users to segregate waste at home. This will increase segregation and recycling thereby reducing the pressure on the landfill. And to smoothen the process, the actual bins should be provided by the City, as well as providing timely collection schedules and increased frequency of the garbage trucks. All these will entail changing the existing policy to be more user friendly.

Reference List

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2.   Lhaden, Y 2020, What Waste Management Flagship Programme Could Bring in Thimphu?, Kuensel Online, viewed 9 May 2021, <https://kuenselonline.com/what-could-wmfp-bring-in-thimphu/>.

3.   Lhamo, T 2020, Second Time Plastic Ban Not a Success Story, Business Bhutan, viewed 1 July 2021, <https://businessbhutan.bt/2020/06/16/second-time-plastic-ban-not-a-success-story/>.

4.   McCurry, J 2020, ‘“No-waste” Japanese Village Is a Peek into carbon-neutral Future’, The Guardian, 20 March, viewed 5 April 2021, <https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/20/no-waste-japanese-village-is-a-peek-into-carbon-neutral-future>.

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8.   Thimphu Thromde 2018, Case Study on Sustainable Urban Planning, 14 May, viewed 3 May 2021, <https://www.metropolis.org/sites/default/files/2019-01/02_Thimphu_Bhutan_2018_Urban_Planning_City_Presentation.pdf>.

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10. UNDP Bhutan 2021, Innovative Trial of Behavioral Interventions on Waste Management, UNDP Bhutan, viewed 12 April 2021, <https://www.facebook.com/UNDPBhutan/posts/5256132237790053>.

11. Victoria Government 2020, Four-bin Waste and Recycling System, www.vic.gov.au.

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Disclaimer: The above piece is an observational write-up and my own opinion, and does not necessarily reflect my workplace's official policy or position or my university. Any content provided are of my opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, individual or anyone or anything.