Partnership for Sustainable Development (PSD) bridges the gap.
PSD builds capacity in the poorest and most vulnerable communities in Nepal, notably amongst children, women, orphans, those with disabilities, and in rural communities. Functioning as an intermediary organization between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have not’s’, PSD serves to link Nepal with international grants, donors, and fundraising projects. PSD is a non-governmental, social development organization.
Community Groups
Local Jobs Created
School Projects
Plastic & Waste Collected
Expected Monthly Plastic Collection
Locals Activated
PSD Nepal and WVP partner with the mountain people of the Himalaya, in cultivating a circular economy of cradle-to-cradle (rather than grave) development solutions.
A 1 bottle = 1 NPR incentive scheme is in operation, with 40,000 PET bottles collected, cleared and recycled at present, monthly. This waste is both recycled in Pokhara by HLP (Himalayan Life Plastic), and creatively up-cycled and re-used for educational purposes, promoting environmental heritage.
$11,000 per structure
Funders branding inside structure
$55,000 total for 5 Tippies
Topics: Plastic, water, global change in himalayas
Support PSD Nepal in creating amazing content to share the message of what is happening.
Suport PSD Nepal with social media and community management.
Message us to get involved: Hello@plastic.thenewactivist.org
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Bishnu Bhatta
I am a Nepali. I am from the Tamang people group. We are a Himalayan people. We all live in rural villages up to 4,500m. My father was a yak herder. We now run two trekking lodges for tourists. We work with PSD Plastics as plastic collectors and also PET segregators – we help to manage the PET waste from the mountains before it is sent for recycling in Nepal. Roughly per month we manage 40,000 PET bottles in the high peak tourist seasons (1T/month, est. 6T/year)
The work of PSD Plastics with the mountain people of Nepal looks to cultivate a circular economy of cradle-to-cradle (rather than grave) development solutions. Long-term viability of this scheme is enacted through a 1 bottle = 1 NPR incentive scheme to drive collection of PET plastic waste, given the thousands of plastic bottles littering the local landscape & valley. The scheme in Langtang National Park is a pilot phase to test the feasibility of recycling in other remote national parks in Nepal & the Himalaya more generally.
Business work and research methods in Langtang include exploring the potential for closed-loop circular economy resource management of PET plastic waste across three platforms;
• Recycling: using a 1 bottle = 1 NPR incentive scheme for collection to drive local recycling practise and collection of waste. The waste PET plastic collected is sent to Pokhara (central Nepal) for recycling, to generate a long-term business model that can support recycling in the region and also drive education in LNP
• Upcycling: local upcycling with PET & glass waste can be used for architectural construction and education. In future this can also be scaled up for upcycling in partnership with long-term work with NAST (Nepal Academy of Science & Technology) for conversion of plastic waste to RDF (reduced diesel fuel), 1kg = 80ml at 80% efficiency rates. This is a long-term option for resource management of plastic waste in the Himalaya.
• R&D work: local-implementation of PET retrieval methods, including compressors & flake machines, local extrusion, local production of upcycled materials (tiles, textiles & moulds) can encourage job creation in rural areas and serve mountain communities. In the long-term, this will be able to generate local employment and income streams from waste in remote regions of Nepal.
In the short-term, this accelerator project serves as a joint approach to land both recycling and upcycling schemes in Langtang National Park – across 3 major trekking valleys (Langtang, Gosaikunda, and Heritage Trail). In the medium term, this creates local employment (>26 local jobs), ecological respect, and environmental-consciousness.
In the long term, we hope this will engage a shift in waste mentalities and environmental consciousness across Nepal.
• Ecological sustainability: clearing of waste (PET, aluminium, glass) from fragile national park
• Community resilience: local employment (>26 jobs), environmental awareness, education
• Circular economy: plastic PET money recycled into LNP for local investment and R&D costs
Local stakeholder involvement exists from the start. Co-created with local partners, local responsibility is fostered. Local government & LNP (Ministry) are already set to go ‘plastic free’ by 2021 (2 year vision). Further local groups & co-operative work drive further local responsibility.
Our vision is to have Langtang National Park sustainable on waste by 2022 and all national parks in Nepal (x6) sustainable on waste by 2025
Creating a sustainable system to employ locals and keep the parks clean.
12,000kg = 26,455 lbs
collected
50+ clean Ups
8 Crew members
10/01/2017
1040 local volunteers and students.
Focused on locals doing the work.
Machinery: PET baling machines, PET crushers, PET storage units
Online tools: info-story and documentary
Make all Nepali national parks sustainable on waste by 2025 (recycle all PET waste)
Visibility – branding – awareness – sponsorships – patrons – funding – scaling the project – growing staff and logistic capacity
12 more staff, additional $20k USD per year, 12 more PET baling machines
The Tibetan-Tamang people groups inhabiting both the Himalayan Valleys of Northern Nepal and also Northern India, are an endangered culture. With significant rural-urban migration toward big cities, the economic opportunities that tourism affords, and the increasing pressure on local habitat & resources, pressure is mounting on a culture with centuries of rich history. This partnership is co-created both to preserve the wellbeing and longevity of a historic heritage culture, & also promote respect & responsibility in a changing world, for a fragile environment.
Respect – simply the honour due towards something that is valued – is marred in a terrain littered by plastic, waste, & tourist trash. These threaten both the natural assets of this spectacular valley and the very foundations of a thriving eco-tourist economy based on trekking.
Likewise, pride – the satisfaction derived from qualities that are widely admired – should be reflected in a clean and well-maintained national park, boasting great Himalayan wonders and rich natural resources in tumbling rivers, diverse jungle, and precious forests. These are assets.
Finally, responsibility – of being accountable – is in the very nature of the federal republic of Nepal, as a landlocked country nicknamed the ‘Himalayan kingdom’. Home to the longest chain of Himalayan mountains of all Asian countries, Nepal has the responsibility for these natural wonders. With great responsibility comes difficult decisions. The longevity, sustainability, and ecology of these breath-taking mountains need to be considered ahead of simply the economic gains of tourism.
The Canadian naturalist, Robert Bateman (2000), encourages us to all ‘Think like a Mountain’ – with a sense of permanence, patience, adaptability and nobility. He reminds us that permanence pays dividends. The long view never disappoints.
Kathmandu, Nepal
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Updated Dec 08, 2020