Description:
<jats:p>Knowing the quantity and the composition of waste is essential to designing and delivering sound waste management policies and waste management systems. Bhutan’s 12th Five-Year Development Plan emphasizes effective waste management as one of its key performance indicators and globally, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development emphasizes the importance of waste in two of its seventeen Sustainable Development Goals. In 2019, the Bhutan National Statistics Bureau undertook its first ever survey of solid waste management. The survey covered waste generating sectors including households, commercial units, institutes, health centers, industries, Government offices and vegetable markets. Results show Bhutan generated more than 170 metric tons of waste daily – equivalent to 170,000 kilograms of sugar. More than 50 percent of solid wastes came from households, almost 50 percent was food waste, and around 50 percent was potentially recyclable. The survey posed many challenges for Bhutan, a land-locked least developed country in the Eastern Himalayas in South Asia, yet provided the opportunity to strengthen stakeholder engagement in the Bhutan National Statistical System and delivered statistics which meet a practical use for Bhutan and its people.</jats:p>