Terms of Reference
for
Development of Municipal Level Household Solid Waste Management Operational Guidelines
Improving Public Health and Environmental Health in Nepal through Appropriate Solid Waste Management
(SOLID-HEALTH)
Nepal Development Society
Registered Office:
Bharatpur-05, Narayanpur, Chitwan, Nepal
Tel: +977-01-4500022
Email: nedsnepal@gmail.com
Website address: www.nedsnepal.org.np
Branch: Kathmandu, Pokhara, Janakpur
January 2025
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
Established in the year 2013, the Nepal Development Society provides quality services on governance, public policy, and research and planning. It is the leading research NGO from Nepal to make remarkable impacts on social, economic, health and environmental issues at national and sub-nation levels. The SOLID-HEALTH project, titled “Improving public health and environmental health in Nepal through appropriate solid waste management,” stands as a significant undertaking to improve waste management practices in Nepal. It aims to contribute to a cleaner, healthier environment for all Nepali citizens and serve as a model for broader national implementation. This collaborative project is implemented by NeDS with the support of a Danish partner. This project implemented the program interventions in major cities of Nepal (Bharatpur, Pokhara, Janakpur, Nepalgunj, and Biratnagar) and is nearly in completion stage. The SOLID-HEALTH project was designed to address the critical gaps in Nepal’s solid waste management system had three key objectives.
• Fifty percent of households in the project areas practice waste segregation and prepare compost from organic waste for kitchen gardening and rooftop farming, which prevent issues of public health and environmental health.
• Fifty percent of waste workers in the project areas manage household waste with practical and organizational measures which prevent issues of public health and environmental health.
• Policymakers have defined an operational guideline at municipal level, provincial level, and national level, which promotes proper waste management in households and among waste workers from the perspective of public health and environmental health.
Under objective 3 activities, project targeted to municipal level household solid waste management guidelines, learning materials to support Municipalities (local government) for sustainability in terms of household solid waste management and among sanitation/waste workers from the perspective of public health and environmental health. In this instance, the project aims to support those Municipalities by developing operational guidelines for Municipal level household solid waste management. This guideline is supposed to be considered as one of the components of the overall waste management plan of any Municipality under project interventions. The guideline document will remain as a standard document of NeDS and will be developed in line with the contextual requirements of the major Municipalities of Nepal.
Municipal solid waste management is a matter of big concern in Nepal. Existence of dense population in city areas, rapid urbanization, and availability of cheap use & throw non-degradable materials, lack of appropriate mass disposal facilities and delayed adoption of improved technologies are major causes of ineffective solid waste management in major cities of Nepal. After launching the Federal System in Country, Province and Local Governments became responsible for development of short, medium to long-term plans along with the rules, directives, guidelines, etc. for execution of development programs of different sectors. Local Government Operations Act (2017) has provisioned the local governments to assign the private sector for performing the solid waste management related duties under regulatory and monitoring framework of government. Municipality level waste management encompasses a series of steps and procedures covering collection from every possible source within municipality to managing, processing and disposal at appropriate location. Household waste management is one of the steps within this process.
Effective HH-level waste management supports reducing more than 50% volume of waste by implication of 3R approach. This assignment is to prepare a standard operation guideline for household solid waste management that will support Municipalities to include in their waste management plan. Also, Different municipalities have developed indicators and targets to achieve a Environment-friendly status at Municipal/ward and tole levels and this guideline will also support in achieving certain targets.
1.1 Objectives of the Assignment
The main objective of the assignment is to develop Operational Guidelines for Household Waste Management applicable for Sub/Metropolitan cities covered by the SOLID Health project. The guidelines are expected to be acceptable and applicable for other municipalities of Nepal too.
The specific objectives include:
• Assess the municipal waste management situations, analyze systemic constraints, and explore opportunities to contribute to achieving municipal, provincial, and national goals set for proper solid waste management in households and among waste workers from the perspective of public health and environmental health.
• Review the status of household-level solid waste management in core cities of Nepal, reduce/refuse, reuse, recycle & dispose system
• Proper coordination with NeDS and proposed stakeholder consultations for analysis of the policies/plans developed and level of execution.
• Identify the waste volume and waste composition (of major cities) and prepare a detailed management plan for the household level including, waste segregation, composting as a major method of waste reduction and promoting a healthy environment by using compost in rooftop/kitchen gardening.
• Prepare methods, and strategies, identify resources, tools and procedures for waste collection, segregation, composting, HH level reuse, handling, and disposal (or delivery to certain points)
• Propose work schedule and operational plans along with the yearly detailed plan for solid waste management at the HH level and prepare the role division of management actors and service providers along with resource and stakeholder mapping
• Prepare effective guidelines with provisions of innovative approaches and technologies to be added in the future (as a part of Guidelines or a separate document) for a sustainable solution
• Design and development of Training contents at different levels for committee/TLO, One-day orientation package for community members and ToT package for trainers (as a part of Guideline or a separate document)
2. SCOPE OF THE ASSIGNMENT
The SOLID Health project basically focused on systematic waste management, environmental safety, and occupational health of waste workers. The awareness generated at the household level was found to be quite supportive in terms of waste segregation, composting and reuse/recycle. Also, municipality-level waste management was influenced due to proper waste segregation at source, training and material support to waste workers and health prevention approaches and awareness timely. Hence, it is realized that developing a specific guidelines for household level solid waste management would support the overall municipal waste management activity to a significant level. In such instances, the guideline would include the following major aspects and processes as primary concerns with additional innovative approaches:
• The proper attention should be provided to include 3Rs (reduce, reuse, and recycle) in every possible step.
• The degradable waste management should encourage the composting of organic waste for kitchen/rooftop gardening, with the intended outcome of reducing public health and environmental health issues.
• Set standard tools and methods to empower community members, concerned waste workers and stakeholders to equip them with the knowledge, skills, and resources necessary to manage household waste effectively through practical and organizational measures.
• Comply with the legal provisions and policy documents of Nepal such as the Solid Waste Management National Policy (1996), the Solid Waste Management Act (2011), The Local Government Operations (LGO) Act (2017), the Solid Waste Management Regulation, (2013), Environmental Protection Act (2019), Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (2016-2030) and other relevant documents of Federal, Province and Local Government.
• Detailed assessment of waste volume, composition, resource assessment, existing system and gaps within specific municipalities and cross-comparative assessment of best practices in similar regions to illustrate the guiding document more effective, applicable, and sustainable.
• HH level waste management planning based on the need and priority of Local government and strategies and vision set by the Province and Central government.
• A portion of a separate section (1-2 pages) as a recommendation (if felt necessary) to improve the holistic municipal waste management system effective, eco-friendly, and sustainable.
• Guidelines should be clear and filled with sufficient information for monitoring and operational guidelines. It should be annexed with necessary formats, working procedures, indicators, and all other necessary information.
3. METHODS AND APPROACHES FOR GUIDELINE PREPARATION:
The individual consultant or a firm is expected to prepare the document mainly based on secondary sources and information obtained from key stakeholders and line agencies. The stakeholders and line agency visit will be facilitated by NeDS as felt necessary. Consultants should propose a detailed methodology of project execution and are expected to conduct not limited to the following major tasks:
3.1 Review of relevant documents and Inception planning:
The desk study includes a literature review and secondary data collection from published and unpublished sources. This included a review of the previous Municipal waste management plan and other relevant documents, municipal profile, and annual progress reports. Additionally, other relevant publications, research reports and plan documents will be reviewed for situation assessment and compatibility assessment. Since the proposed task is related to preparing guiding documents, concerned legal and policy documents, plans, rules, directives, and guidelines should be reviewed in detail. Within 2 weeks of agreement, the inception report should be submitted and validated. The inception report will include all consultation plans and the structure of the document.
3.2 Situation Assessment and stakeholders’ consultation
The consultant should make proper interconnection with NeDS during the entire phase of documentation. There will be a series of consultation meetings with related stakeholders and line agency professionals as recommended by NeDS. The information should be gathered based on the observation and KII/FGD with key stakeholders/groups. The quick formats will be enough to gather crucial information during the consultations. The logistic facilities will be arranged by NeDS as per the need.
3.3 Sharing the Draft guideline and presentation
The draft report needs to include all the aspects finalized during Inception planning and additional cross-cutting issues observed and felt needed by the community during stakeholder consultations. The detailed framework should be developed considering the status of social and economic status of communities, existing waste management infrastructures, needs, and possibilities of inclusion of the approaches etc. Final draft Guidelines need to be presented to NeDS along with the presence of key Stakeholders, experts, and Municipal members. The venue, date and participants will be finalized by NeDS.
3.4 Submission of Final Guidelines
The feedback and suggestions from the draft presentation session need to be incorporated and submitted as final Guidelines within 6 weeks of signing the agreement. The Final Guidelines need to be a document which can address the burning issue of Municipal level HH solid waste management in concerned Metro/Sub-metro cities along with supporting most of the Municipalities of Nepal.
4. STUDY TEAM AND PROJECT REQUIREMENTS:
An individual consultant or a project team comprised of 2 members (one key expert and one team member ) should undertake the assignment. Selection will be based on the experience of the firm and/or the study team’s competencies. Consultants should keep appropriately the records and minutes of the meetings/workshops. The consultant should be in regular consultation with NeDS. The municipality will provide necessary support during the entire consultations.
5. TIMELINE, DELIVERABLES AND PROPOSAL SUBMISSION:
The Study should be completed within 1.5 Months (6 Weeks) after signing the contract agreement. The consultant should propose a detailed timeline and work plan in the proposal. The following major deliverables need to be delivered within the expected time frame:
• Inception Document (within two weeks after the project agreement)
• Draft Guidelines – within 5 weeks after the project agreement
• Consultation with stakeholders in the implemented area of SOLID-HEALTH before finalization of the report.
• Final Guideline – within 6 weeks after the agreement
Proposal Submission: Technical and financial proposals should be submitted by the 25th of January at the latest. The qualified consultant should be ready to start the study no later than one week after notification. The proposal should be submitted electronically to: nedsnepal@gmail.com
6. PAYMENT SCHEDULE
• Upon approval of inception plan and tools: [20%]
• Upon submission of the First Draft of Guidelines: [40%]
• Upon approval of the Guidelines: [40%]