By Dr.
Anush Amarasinghe
“Reduce, reuse, and recycle”- a household phrase
you’ve probably heard over and over again either through school, from awareness
campaigns or even on TV. This commonly used phrase is one expected to
enthusiastically and optimistically drive the mind-sets of those listening, to
essentially do the right thing and help efforts to save the environment.
In Sri Lanka, waste segregation and management is
a topic that has been gradually building up notoriety due to inefficiencies and
lack of proper implementation. The Western Province alone generates around 7,500
metric tons of solid waste every day of which only 3,500 metric tons are
collected (Central Environmental Authority, 2018).
Over the past few years, we’ve seen these poor
practices result in overcrowded landfills, environmental deterioration and even
economic drawbacks. Perfectly recyclable materials go to waste due to poor disposal,
segregation and management practices across all stakeholders, from homes to
municipalities and local authorities.
Poor disposal practices often raise alarms when
waste such as plastic bottles end up clogging waterways and overcrowding
landfills. This deters the image of a material that if properly disposed of and
segregated, can be recycled and potentially benefit the economy.
As we now know, the government will be
implementing a ban on single-use plastics this year. While this is a
sustainable step forward, an innovative solution needs to be enforced to make
sure that plastics such as PET don’t meet the same fate, as they make an
invaluable contribution to communities and the overall economy.
The ability to use plastic in packaging has
opened doors to making products more accessible and affordable to communities
around the country. Such packages are generally cheaper to produce, easy to
transport due to minimal breakages and store. They also generate a lower carbon
footprint in production than most other materials. This cheaper alternative has
enabled beverages to be made available to most rural communities, for them to
enjoy such products otherwise limited to the more affluent areas of the
country. A classic example is a milk sachet or a smaller-sized milk product. Data
from the Income and Expenditure Survey (2016) reports that the rural sector in
Sri Lanka spends an average of 7.8% on milk and milk food expenditure. The
ability to provide the same product at economical prices will mean that products
are no longer out of financial reach for certain socio-economic groups. Their
demands and need for these products will continue. This is why it becomes all
the more important to strategically address the issue of waste reduction and
recycling in the long term.
The
problem with our current waste management system
Although governments and local authorities have
made claims that waste segregation and management procedures have been
implemented, it is clear that there are still inefficiencies at almost all levels.
For example, in 2008, the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) of Sri Lanka
initiated the “Pilisaru Programme”, a 10-year waste management programme with
the goal of achieving a “Waste Free Sri Lanka by 2018”. The lack of a proper
strategy for this programme made it very ineffective, and the failure to
address this mounting issue led to unsanitary and overpopulated landfills in
Karadiyana, Bloemendhal and Meethotamulla.
Waste management requires reform from the roots,
starting from household waste management. Awareness should be raised on the
fact that waste collected in homes should be properly disposed of separately,
so that collectors are able to collect food waste, paper and plastics individually.
Improper methods of waste collection and segregation
should also be reformed, as even though households would separate their waste
for collection, recyclable waste is either collected with other waste and
contaminated or made unrecyclable, and separately collected waste would end up
in the same landfill, making the whole process of waste segregation
ineffective.
The lack of policy enforcement and supervision of
the recycling sector has prompted private SME plastic waste collectors and
segregators to rise. There currently exists a network of over 300 registered
and unregistered plastic collectors and recyclers in Sri Lanka (Central Environmental Authority, 2019). This sector needs to be further strengthened,
as these small business do not have the infrastructure or support needed to
implement efficient waste recycling practices. It is important to keep in mind
that SME recyclers and the sector at large could be at the risk of losing their
jobs if a potential ban on all PET plastics is enforced by the government.
What
needs to be done?
Primarily, the government needs to review and
refine waste management processes in the country. They should promote an
innovative strategy that ensures that local authorities and municipalities
implement a seamless waste management system, with stringent protocols and
provisions for the collection and segregation of waste. This would also help
strengthen the recycling sector.
For example, Japan maintains a unified waste
management protocol that has been successful in controlling segregation,
collection, transportation and recycling. The responsibility of the detailed
process that Japan follows is strategically dispersed across a plethora of stakeholders
including authorities and consumers, prompting them to maintain standards in
separating recyclable and non-recyclable waste at homes, collecting, dumping,
incinerating or recycling (Management and Recycling Department Policy Planning
Division, 2012).
Apart from the Government, producers play a big
role in encouraging proper disposal and segregation of plastic waste with the
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policy, where producers take
responsibility for the treatment and/or disposal of post-consumer products. As
a start, manufacturers of PET bottles and large beverage brands can standardize
their bottles and bottle caps and make all of their bottles transparent, as
this can assist and ease the process of segregation, cleaning and recycling
when the bottles come to recyclers, post-consumption.
Consumers should be made aware of the correct recycling
practices to follow. To raise awareness and influence proper disposal practices
for recyclable waste, greater public engagement can be achieved through beach
or tourist hotspot clean-up programmes and similar initiatives. For example,
Eco-Spindles has initiated similar programmes over the years such as the Kataragama
Waste Management Project in partnership with Coca-Cola Sri Lanka’s Give Back
Life” initiative, where we collected 4,227 kgs of PET from within the
religious site in 2019. Not only was it a collection drive, we also encouraged
pilgrims and visitors to be more conscious of their plastic disposal, thereby
making this more than just an initiative – rather, a movement, inspiring more
people to contribute by supplying plastic waste from their own homes,
workplaces and communities.
PET Plastic is not waste, it is
a valuable commodity
Sri Lanka’s recycling sector’s potential is very
high, and this has probably gone unnoticed over the past. One of the most
economically benefitting and environmentally-friendly strategies is the
development of a circular economy, which would through recycling remain a major
drive, promising a seamless and rejuvenating industry lifespan, benefitting
private SME collectors and segregators. Not only would this empower the local
recycling sector, but we would also be environmentally conservative, while recycling
and adding value to collected PET bottles for production and exporting.
With the Government’s upcoming ban for single-use
plastics and a goal to develop and preserve a sustainable environment, the
prevailing issues with Sri Lanka’s waste management should be addressed with a
proactive approach, ideally by strengthening waste management and fully
realizing the potential of recyclable materials. Just imagine, all we have to
do is be cautious and smart with segregating and managing our waste. That would
drastically reduce our ecological footprint which would otherwise be enlarged
by the use of virgin materials to produce products that recycled plastic could
instead, produce. A truly policy-driven economic and environmental win for
everyone.
(The writer is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of BPPL Holdings PLC. BPPL Holdings is a pioneer in developing and creating eco-friendly products which sensibly make use of natural resources. Through their subsidiaries Beira Brush (Private) Limited and Eco-Spindles (Private) Limited they move forward in manufacturing products that help create a cleaner and greener Sri Lanka whilst generating value for customers worldwide).
