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The report assesses the level of public awareness of microplastic pollution and related hazards as well as the current status of microplastic monitoring facilities available in Sri Lanka’s state and private sector institutes, with an emphasis on the public water supply chain and identifying microplastic point sources upstream to ensure safe...

The global demand for plastic is expected to double in the next 20 years. The increasing demand for Single-Use Plastic Products (SUPPs) has become one of the main environmental problems in many developing countries, including Sri Lanka, through direct and indirect means, in the way of excessive consumption and the pollution of the environment...

River meandering and anabranching have become major problems in many large rivers that carry significant amounts of sediment worldwide. The morphodynamics of these rivers are complex due to the temporal variation of flows. However, the availability of remote sensing data and geographic information systems (GISs) provides the opportunity to analyze...

Pollution caused by the irresponsible disposal of plastics is a significant issue, particularly in developing countries like Sri Lanka. It is estimated that only 9% of all plastics ever produced globally have been recycled. However, not all plastics are equal in this equation, PET, in particular, stands out, given that they are 100% recyclable. Sri...

This training module was developed as a supplementary training and learning resource for the “Guidelines for Safe Closure and Rehabilitation of Municipal Solid Waste Dumpsites in Sri Lanka,” published by the Ministry of Environment, Sri Lanka. The training Module was designed under the guidance of the Secretary, Director, Assistant Director and...

Plastics are part of everyday life for most of the people in the world and it is also used extensively in the industry. Globally about 368 million tonnes are produced annually where Asia accounts for more than half of the global plastic production. Sri Lanka currently imports virgin plastic raw materials for varying applications which amounts to...

This report presents the challenges faced and opportunities revealed through a study of two cases of source-segregated waste collection by local authorities in Sri Lanka; Moratuwa Municipal Council, in Colombo, and Kataragama Pradeshiya Sabha, in Monaragala for the purpose of raising planning and decision making capacities not only in Sri Lanka but...

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) management, particularly final disposal as open dumps has become a global issue. Worldwide, dumpsites are the third largest anthropogenic source of methane, accounting for 11 percent of estimated global methane emissions or 881 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. The 50 largest dumpsites affect the daily lives of 64...

This case study report examines the establishment and evolution of plastic waste recycling under two different operational modalities in urban areas of Sri Lanka; 1) single municipal operation, and 2) PPP (Public Private Partnership) based operation. This report provides an analysis of each modality in terms of effectiveness, technical feasibility...

This report presents three case studies in the context of centralised large-scale composting facilities in Sri Lanka in order to reveal the factors and approaches that led to positive results under different type of operational modality, i.e., 1) single municipal operation, 2) provincial operation, and 3) joint consortium operation (operated by two...