While there is mounting waste generation in Mongar, the lone waste collecting firm in the dzongkhag is struggling to collect enough plastic waste to sustain.

The firm, We Care, collects at least four tonnes of plastic waste in a month from the core town area and its nearby residential areas.

The firm’s storehouse is almost empty since last month and the pet bottle baller machine is underused.

However, more than ten trucks of plastic waste are carried to landfill every week.

“By this time of the month, I would have collected a truckload of plastic scraps usually,” the owner, Tsheltrim Pelden said.

With more than three scrap dealers and several scrap collectors collecting and selling waste in the dzongkhag, it has become difficult for him.

Tsheltrim Pelden said that it was difficult to collect waste without adequate support from the stakeholder concerned to regulate proper waste and landfill management.

“There should be a proper regulation put in place to allow us to implement our plan to reduce the amount of waste going to the landfill. This would help expand the lifespan of the landfill. It would also help our business grow,” he said.

Tsheltrim Pelden said that it was difficult to sustain firm at the current rate of waste collection.

The dzongkhag municipal engineer, Ram Bahadur Darjee, said that it was important to consult and coordinate among the scrap dealers, public and the municipality to reduce the amount of waste going to the landfill.

He said there were plans to reduce the production of waste from the source and encourage recycling of plastic waste. “The dzongkhag also plans to strengthen its plan to segregate waste from the source.”

He said there were no scrap dealers coming forward to discuss regarding the waste management. “The dzongkhag helped We Care to collect waste from Lingmithang by providing truck but later discontinued after the contract was over.

The dzongkhag has also mandated that household in the rural gewogs to have one garbage pit to manage the waste in villages.

The dzongkhag also conducts cleaning campaign every month as part of an awareness and advocacy programme.

Nima | Mongar