A Gap Analysis in Selected Asian Countries, 3R Knowledge Hub ...

BACKGROUND
Bhutan is a small landlocked nation located in
eastern Himalayas, bordered by India in the
east, south and west and by China in the north.
With a total land area of about 38,000 km 2 , the
country is entirely mountainous rising from
southern foothills of 160 m above sea level to
over 7,500 m high peaks in the north. The
country has a population of about 2.3 million.
Ever since Bhutan emerged out of a selfimposed
isolation and initiated the Five Year
Plan for its developmental activities, the
national GDP growth rate increased from
approximately 5% in 1998 to more than 8% in
2004. The per capita GDP is about USD 1,400.
The revenue generation from hydropower
electricity export and agriculture subsistence
farming contributes significantly to the national
GDP and commissioning of the 1,020 MW Tala
Hydroelectric Power Station in 2006 is expected
to substantially elevate Bhutan’s GDP.
Unfortunately, this favorable socio-economic
achievement is accompanied by negative
pressures on natural resources and the
environment. With population concentration in
the urban areas and changes in consumption
pattern driven by economic gains, various social
services management challenges emerge. The
unprecedented escalation of solid waste
generation especially in urban areas has
emerged as one of the most serious challenges,
lately, to the Royal Government of Bhutan
(RGoB). The RGoB, over the past years has been
searching for options and opportunities to
tackle the challenge. However, high demand of
resources and management expertise coupled
with mere technological capacity limits the
chances to improve the deteriorating situation.
The fragile mountain ecosystem adds to the
limitation of finding and developing landfill
3.2
Bhutan
sites. To date, public participation in the waste
management system has not been strong. The
waste quantity generated may not be alarming
compared to the waste quantities in other
countries, but for the population size and
urbanization system in a steep mountain terrain,
it has become a serious concern.
PRIORITY AREAS
In Bhutan, the existing dumpsite has now
reached its optimum capacity and the newly
identified landfill site still remains on the sketch
board due to lack of funding and human
resources. It has become a priority issue to
develop a segregated waste inventory for the
municipal waste. This is to enable analysis and
adoption of the viable 3R and safe disposal
options.
The first ever solid waste management facility,
comprising a system of collection transportation
and disposal (into an approximately 1.5 ha
natural gully at Memelakha about seven
kilometers away from the main town) is still
operational since its inception in early 1993 for
Thimphu municipality.
Chapter 3: Country Analysis
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