Kathmandu, May 26

Marking World Environment Day 2025, ‘Bin There, Hacked That’, the first of its kind flagship waste hackathon, is being organised bringing together techies, creatives, entrepreneurs, and climate leaders to tackle Nepal’s growing waste crisis through technology and creativity.

This milestone event is being hosted jointly by Ncell Foundation, Khaalisisi and Budhanilkantha Municipality on June 5 at the Budhanilkantha Municipality Hall, bringing together the country’s brightest problem-solvers to reimagine waste as an opportunity.

The hackathon marks a powerful Public-Private Partnership (PPP) between digital pioneers, Nepal’s formal waste management sector, and progressive local government. The hackathon aims to catalyse scalable, tech-enabled solutions that address pressing challenges in waste management, recycling infrastructure, plastic pollution, and the empowerment of informal waste workers, especially women.

“Ncell Foundation is proud to support this landmark initiative that blends digital innovation with environmental stewardship. We believe this hackathon will unlock creative, tech-first solutions to one of Nepal’s most pressing civic challenges—waste,” said Bishakha Lakshi Khadka, Director at Ncell Foundation & Special Projects.

Nepal generates over 3,000 tons of waste daily, yet formal recycling systems remain underdeveloped, and women represent below 5% of the total waste workforce. ‘Bin There, Hacked That’ seeks to change that narrative by fostering innovative, inclusive, and actionable ideas to drive a circular economy centred on community, dignity, and climate resilience.

“This is more than just a hackathon—it’s a national call to rethink waste as a source of innovation, income, and impact,” said Amun Thapa, Founder & CEO of Khaalisisi. “With this platform, we are building pathways for youth, women, and technologists to co-create Nepal’s circular future.”

Applications for the waste hackathon remain open until 28 May 2025, inviting students, startups, engineers, designers, coders, informal sector champions, and anyone passionate about building a cleaner and smarter Nepal. Selected groups will be developing the solutions on the thematic areas that include Landfill to Circularity, Waste Without Smoke, Women in Waste Entrepreneurship and Digitize Trash.

This hackathon is supported by Golyan Group, Plast Nepal Foundation, Coca-Cola Beverages Nepal, CNIYEF, Nabil Bank, Grow By Idea, Cloudfactory, Fusemachines, Model Institute of Technology (MIT), Byapar Pathshala and Ace Institute of Management.