CEA, IWMI to improve municipal waste challenge and environment

Monday, 9 December 2013 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

As a follow up of the MoU signed between the Central Environment Authority (CEA) and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) on 19 July 2013, a stakeholder meeting was conducted on improved waste management in Colombo city with a view to address the issue of waste treatment for Colombo garbage at the request of the Colombo Municipal Council on 2 December 2013. This meeting was held under the

patronage of Minister for environment and renewable energy Susil Premajayantha with the participation of the Ministry of Environment and Renewable Energy, Ministry of Defence and Urban Development, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Local Government and Provincial Councils, Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) and other stakeholder institutions such as the Waste Management Authority of Western Provincial Council. The Municipal Commissioner, Bhadrani Jayawardhana and several engineers attended the meeting on behalf of the CMC. The Colombo Municipal Council produces 700 tonnes of municipal solid waste per day. This amount represents about 25% of the country’s total waste collection. As the waste is to more than 60% organic, the Minister said, “Municipal waste in the CMC with its high moisture content and organic composition is very well suited for composting. The Phase 1 of ‘Pilisaru’ National Solid Waste Management Project experience shows that composting can provide a solution to a large part of the organic waste, which has otherwise a high pollution potential for our water bodies.” The Minister assured the support of the Ministry of Environment and Renewable Energy for the feasibility study for converting organic waste into compost in CMC. “This study would extend to Colombo Metropolitan Region (CMR) beyond CMC,” he added. Waste disposal is indeed a major challenge in Colombo and the present disposal site is coming to the end of its operational life. “To divert as much waste as possible from any dumping site should be a strategic focus not only of us in Colombo. Reduce, reuse, recycle are key pillars of Sri Lanka’s waste management strategy,” added the CMC commissioner. Modern concepts “Not only is the infrastructure development for waste management but also to introduce modern concepts such as polluter pays principle, product stewardship and extended producer responsibility to enhance the commitment of all sectors of the society towards improved waste management” said CEA Director General Dr. Saranga Alahapperuma. “Implementation of a composting project to serve the Colombo Municipal Council via the ‘Pilisaru’ Project is our priority in the ‘Pilisaru’ Project, Phase 2, from 2014-2018,” added N.S. Gamage, Director, ‘Pilisaru’ project of the CEA. Compost from waste could provide a win-win situation to the council, farmers, and the environment.

“Waste is a challenge, but can be converted into an opportunity” said Dr. Peter McCornick, Deputy Director General, IWMI. “To achieve a sustainable transformation, a comprehensive feasibility study will be an important step” added Dr. Herath Manthrithilake, Head of IWMI’s Sri Lanka Programme. “The proposed feasibility study for the larger Colombo region would be based on different value propositions and business models, which were prepared after analysing about 150 success stories in various developing countries. The potential of replicating these models will be assessed under the proposed feasibility study” added IWMI Theme Leader Dr. Pay Drechsel. The study would cover seven areas: waste supply, compost demand analysis, finances, technology, health and environment, institutional and socio-economic analysis. “This multi-disciplinary approach will increase the sustainability of our project and is a much welcomed addition,” noted Dr. Alahaperuma. “The same approach can be replicated across the Phase 2 of the ‘Pilisaru’ sites, and also be applied to support those stations we set up under Phase 1 to increase the internal cost recovery potential and life time,” he added.