Repair as revolution: turning e-waste into skills, jobs and a different way of thinking
Nepal: How Doko Recyclers is building a repair economy and mindset
What if the most revolutionary thing you could do for the planet was fix something instead of throwing it away?
In Nepal, that revolution is already underway.
In Kathmandu, Doko Recyclers – Nepal’s leading e-waste management company – and the Repair Revolution Workshop & Training (RRWT) programme have processed an average of 250 kilograms of e-waste per day since 2021, recovering 80–90% of materials. But the real innovation lies in what happens before recycling: repair. RRWT trains youth, students and waste workers to fix electronics rather than discard them, thus building a pipeline of green skills that connects informal workers to formal employment, and grassroots action to national policy.
“Reusing and repairing are revolutionary acts, because they break the consumption cycle. They ask people to slow down, be present, and take control of what they already have, instead of constantly chasing something new.”
Ashma Basnyat, Co-founder, Doko Recyclers
The European Training Foundation (ETF) is delighted to count this initiative as one of the finalists for the Green Skills Award 2026. Read on to find out why.
The project
RRWT operates on multiple levels. At the community level, it offers hands-on repair workshops where participants learn to fix common household electronics – kettles, heaters, multiplug extensions – shifting the perception of e-waste from trash to repairable resources. At the vocational level, Doko co-developed Nepal’s first e-waste processor curriculum, which is certified by Nepal’s Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT). This curriculum covers 390 course hours, and embeds repair and circular economy skills into the national TVET system.
Beyond classrooms, 500+ technicians and waste workers have gained practical skills in safe e-waste handling, leading to skill growth and improved incomes. In addition, 17 participants have been trained to prepare them for jobs in the sector. To enable sustained growth, Doko is promoting a scholarship fund for the CTVET programme to support its Decentralised Collection Centres – small scale recycling collection points that are operated by women-owned businesses.
Doko also created Sikaru Saathi, a video-based repair teaching programme developed with the non-profit Karkhana Samuha, making repair skills accessible beyond the workshop.
The ETF has selected this initiative as one of the six finalists for the Green Skills Award, recognising its scope for turning grassroots action into national vocational standards, informal waste work into certified green employment, and a generation's mindset toward more conscious consumption.
Why this initiative stands out:
- Training spans all ages: experiential learning for school children from age 10, summer repair camps, CTEVT vocational courses for older youth and adults
- Co-developed Nepal’s first nationally certified e-waste processor curriculum (390 course hours) together with the Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT)
- Decentralised collection points operated by women-owned businesses, providing stable income from waste collection and processing, including e-waste management
- Sikaru Saathi: a video-based repair education programme extending skills access beyond physical workshop locations
- RRWT is an inclusive programme that provides hands-on repair skills and knowledge to children, waste workers and community members
- At the community level, hands-on repair workshops teach participants to fix common household electronics, shifting perceptions of e-waste from rubbish to a repairable resource.
- At the vocational level, Doko co-developed Nepal's first CTEVT-certified 390-hour e-waste processor curriculum, embedding repair and circular economy skills into the national TVET system, and creating a formal pathway from training to employment.
- At the workforce level, the programme upskills waste workers in safe e-waste handling, with a particular focus on helping women gain a stable income from e-waste processing alongside their existing waste related work.
- Children participate in Sikaru Saathi educational workshops (in collaboration with Karkhana Samuha), a video-based repair teaching programme extending skills access beyond physical workshop locations.
- Doko processes 250 kg of e-waste per day, recovering 80–90% of materials through repair, refurbishment and component reuse before any recycling takes place
- Over 70% of Doko’s staff are women, in a sector where female participation is rare
- 500+ technicians and waste workers upskilled in e-waste handling, leading to improved incomes and safer working conditions
- 110 students trained in electronics repair, shifting perceptions of e-waste as something fixable
- Green skills developed include electronics diagnostics and repair, e-waste sorting and safe handling, circular economy principles, hazardous materials management, and entrepreneurship.
“Economically speaking, if waste makes it to a landfill, or into a river or the bottom of the ocean, those materials will become difficult to recover. They are not infinite, so over time they will be scarcer and scarcer. But more immediately, e-waste contaminates the water we drink, the air we breathe and the food we eat – when it’s not managed properly.”
Ashma Basnyat, Co-founder, Doko Recyclers
- The CTEVT curriculum connects grassroots repair skills to national policy, supporting Nepal’s Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) framework and education reform
- Women-owned collection centres gain stable, weather-proof income from e-waste (unlike paper and plastic recycling, which fluctuates with market and policy changes)
- Young participants in repair workshops report changed consumption habits and increased interest in technical careers
- Doko’s approach is modular and replicable, meaning any city can adapt the curriculum by identifying local e-waste sources and popular repairable items
- Plans for a scholarship fund for female workers to enter the e-waste technician workforce are in development, further closing the gender gap
Doko wasn’t founded to build a brand. It was founded because waste workers were handling hazardous waste materials, such as electronics, without training, protection or recognition, and something had to change. For its founders, the repair philosophy runs deeper than environmentalism: it is about slowing down in a culture of speed, staying present with a problem rather than discarding it, and recognising that the people who handle our waste deserve the same skills, safety and dignity as anyone else.
In a world addicted to the new, Doko invites us to recognise the value of what already exists – perhaps one of the most revolutionary acts of our time.
“If the repair revolution succeeds, it will change the fabric of society.”
Ashma Basnyat, Co-founder, Doko Recyclers
