Nepal, situated in the Himalayan belt has a rapidly growing population together with high

urbanisation rate. These factors are currently causing problems connected to municipal solid

waste (MSW). E.g. leakage of hazardous substances to soil and surrounding aquatic systems,

spread of odour and naturally unfamiliar materials to natural biotopes, all of which generate

environmental damage and health problems. There are certain differences in waste generation

and waste composition between urban areas of Nepal. In order to retrieve a broad picture of

the current waste management situation, three population differentiated municipalities in

different areas of the country were investigated. Studies of the MSW regarding composition

and generation were conducted. Moreover, waste management in Nepal was compared with

the basic waste management in the European Union (EU) and Sweden. Landfill sites (LFS) in

Ghorahi Municipality, Pokhara Sub-metropolitan City and Kathmandu Metropolitan City

were studied. Our studies show differences in waste composition, generation and management

between the three locations. The differences are somewhat interconnected with population

size and tourism. Cities with higher population and more tourism tend to have a higher

generation and more diverse MSW. Nevertheless, the urban areas of Nepal are very much in

need of a more structured waste management system, a system more alike the waste

management of EU. Apart from structural problems, there are attitude and behavioural issues

that needs to be dealt with. Further studies regarding social patterns, attitude and behaviour,

as well as the economic flow of MSW, needs to be conducted in order to retrieve an even

broader picture and understand important underlying issues.

SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden is a multitechnical research institute with some 1300 employees. Many of the activities aim to connect academia to industry, and the work is both national and international. The institute is out of tradition strong in technical research, however, the amount of human related factors in the research is growing. As a part of this a multisensorial laboratory is developing at SP, taking the existing auditory facilities as point of departure. The human senses are of uttermost importance for safety and sustainability, including enjoyment of life and evaluation of everyday goods and services. Evaluation of products and services can be performed by measurements on the product itself, by measurements on and by humans. The goal is analytical psychophysical measurements as well as hedonic evaluations. Some examples within the areas of safety an ageing will be mentioned.

Sensory science is defined  as a scientific method used to evoke, measure, analyze, and interpret those responses to products as perceived through the senses of sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing (Stone and Sidel, 1993). This definition encompasses both analytical methods, such as descriptive and discriminative testing and hedonic methods, including qualitative and quantitative consumer testing used to address sensory research objectives. 

To select and train a sensory panel with the purpose of using all their senses in evaluating products is a challenge. There are different types of standards on how to select and train sensory analytical panels. However, there are no standard covering all senses.

The challenges for a multisensory approach are many. In this paper our focus is on:

1. Select an analytical multisensory panel
2. Train and keep a multisensory panel updated

Some guidance to select and train a multisensory panel might be found in the ISO standard ISO8586:2012. Criteria for tastes and odours are clear and concise. Some advices concerning tactile senses (perception of texture) and vision (colour vision) are given.  To find guidance in measuring the sensorial perception of audio and vision the literature might be consulted eg by Zackarov and Bech (2006), Legarth and Zacharov (2009) and Rossi (2013). 

The poster will show suggestions and experiences on how to select a multisensory panel.