Focus on Sri Lanka’s plastic waste management

By Manjula de Silva, Secretary General and CEO, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce

Each year, over 640,000 metric tonnes of plastic leak into the Indian Ocean from Sri Lanka (Clean Cities, Blue Ocean, June 2020). The Western Province alone generates around 7500 metric tons of solid waste every day, out of which only 3500 metric tons are collected (Central Environmental Authority, 2018). Of this, close to 15% become compost, 10% is recycled and 75% is thrown into open dumps. While plastics have made essential products more accessible, the impact to the environment needs to be addressed.

As consumerism evolves, the earth continues to suffer. For over half a century, consumers have been placed at the forefront to bear the brunt of the burden they have placed on the Earth. But, are consumers only to blame? Consumers are a key stakeholder in the waste management process but they share this responsibility alongside legislators, civil society, importers of plastic and, producers who use plastic in their manufacturing and packaging processes.

Today’s consumers are even more aware of what they consume and hold these products, services and brands to renewed standards of transparency and accountability. Due to this, the conversation on sustainability among brands has shifted from a mere marketing gimmick, to a legitimate requirement that is demanded by the next generation of consumers, the world over.

The 3 Rs of responsible waste management – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle will remain the holy mantra across the spectrum of sustainability. However, as producers take up accountability, we have to ask the important questions. Are organizations able to switch to plastic alternatives and meet their current demands? How will this affect the product design and its safety for consumption? Elimination and reduction will only take away from the end consumer’s ease of access to the product. The end consumers in this case, are Sri Lankans like you and I.

This is where Extended Producer Responsibility comes into play. According to the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a policy mechanism through which producers are given the responsibility (either financial and/or physical) for the treatment or disposal of post-consumer products. EPR is a critical tool in driving linear economies into a circular economy, as they supplement an extended product cycle even after the products initial use. Assigning such responsibility could in principle, provide incentives to prevent waste at the source, promote environmentally friendly product design and support the achievement of the national recycling goals.

EPR is systematic approach to ensuring commitment to the waste hierarchy of the 3 Rs by facilitating producers to remain responsible in the treatment and disposal of post-consumer products. This at present, is a more sustainable tool over bans as most products are created for utility and cannot be removed from the market overnight. For recyclable items such as PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) and HIPS (High Impact Polystyrene) plastic, better alternatives need to be sought which encourage recovery and recyclability.