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Solid waste management in Sri Lanka: Is composting a viable option?

By Admin | July 21, 2009

Management of solid waste is a growing problem in Sri Lanka. Open dumping of solid waste has been the most common disposal practice in Sri Lanka, which is associated with the highest environmental, health and social costs. The analysis of data on waste stream of Sri Lanka reveals the largest fraction of domestic and commercial solid waste is organic and biodegradable–suitable for compost production. Compost could be used in improving the productivity of agricultural lands as the major proportion (44%) of agricultural lands in Sri Lanka faces the problem of low productivity due to soil erosion.
This study attempts to understand the economics of composting practices in the Western Province of Sri Lanka, whether composting in Sri Lanka is financially viable Specific objectives are (1) Review financial and economic viability of organic solid waste management in Sri Lanka with special emphasis on composting practices. (2) Analyze role of economic instruments making composting economically viable

Study collects data from compost plants recently operated and currently operating in Western Province of Sri Lanka. In addition, it collects data from a sample of local authorities and also other various stakeholders of compost facilities such as compost sellers and buyers and professionals. Financial Cost benefit Analysis is carried out for each compost plant.

Findings of the study reveal that the composting practices in Sri Lanka are not financially viable–the financial benefits currently gained from composting are less than the costs incurred–.This study argues that the gap between cost and benefits of composting should be compensated by the local authorities since properly controlled composting helps to minimize the social cost involved in poor solid waste management services such as open dumping. Findings also emphasize the need for changing the allocation of solid waste budgets of local authorities in such as way to allocate considerable proportion for safe waste disposal. The study also discusses some strategies for revenue generation and cost recovery by local authorities related to the solid waste management.

The findings show that medium scale decentralized composting practices are more cost effective compared to centralized compost facilities. In addition, study suggests some economic instruments, which can be used to improve the viability of composting practices and also to address the current waste disposal problems socially, economically and in an environmentally sound manner.

G. Asha
Institute of Policy Studies, Sri Lanka

Topics: Pollution control, symposium2008 | 1 Comment »

One Response to “Solid waste management in Sri Lanka: Is composting a viable option?”

  1. J.M.Coenen Says:
    February 28th, 2010 at 4:47 pm

    Dear,

    Your end conclusion for a decentralized composting practice is a correct one.
    We in Europe experienced the same.
    For that reason we created a new composting technologie that gives more profitable results for a far much cheaper production cost!

    The Economic Composting System ECS is the latest technology for composting biomass.
    Easy to implement and suitable for the production of bio-compost as well as for energy-compost.

    ECS can bring solution to the organic waste problem in Sri Lanka and become a profitable business with great prospects!

    It all depends on those with responsibilities
    not to lose more time but to make the right decisions in favor of the country.

    J.M.Coenen
    ECS-Belgium

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