KATHMANDU: Urban waste management is a global concern. Kathmandu and other cities of Nepal are also not out of the debate. "Urban waste problem is very complex in fast growing cities," said Raju Khadka, a fourth-year student of architecture at Acme Engineering College.

After the success of his first exhibition titled Sparsh, Raju plans to organize a second but solo 16-day exhibition from January 22 to February 6. 'Sparsh 2' will focus on recycling of urban waste for sustainable architecture. Despite his young years, Raju is trying to motivate his juniors by this exhibition. "I felt disappointed at first when I saw no support for this cause from even the society of architects," said Raju. However, now with support of a few experienced architects, he is preparing for the day.

Inorganic waste in cities is increasing by 4 per cent annually and has reached 36 per cent. Due to this increase, global warming is increasing by 0.06 degree Centigrade every year. "We can control this by recycling waste material and converting it into something useful and creative," said Raju.

He uses waste material gleaned from government offices, hospitals and houses to create beds, sofas, paintings, lamps and designs of buildings and landscapes. Raju said the eight years that he has spent recycling waste material to create art and architecture are not enough to create public awareness.

"Recycling waste material can contribute to a clean environment, architectural design, interior design, architecturally sustainable buildings. Also, it can be an emerging area of income generation for people," said Raju. He is using materials like telephone recharge cards, amrisho sticks, computer parts, polythene, cloth, jute, board markers, cartons, thermacole and X-ray plates to create his artwork for Sparsh 2.

Raju's first exhibition, from January 4 to 13 in 2009 at Siddhartha Gallery was inaugurated by Dr Horst Matthaeus, programme coordinator of UDLE, GTZ. Sparsh 2 will be held at Nepal Art Council Gallery.