Solid Waste Management
EFL’s present work on solid waste management includes ongoing litigation in the Karadiyana Garbage Dumping issue and the joint Humanitarian Environmental Partnership with the World Wildlife Fund and the American Red Cross.
The matter on dumping garbage in Karadiyana, an environmentally sensitive marsh land bordering the Weras Ganga, is currently been heard in the Kesbewa Magistrates Court. The Kesbewa, Boralasgamuwa and Moratuwa Urban Councils and the Dehiwala – Mount Lavinia Municipal Council are at present dumping nearly 300 metric tonnes of unsorted garbage daily into this low lying area, situated in close proximity to sensitive and already threatened ecosystems as the Bolgoda Lake (Designated as a Environmental Protection Area under the National Environment Act) and the Bellanwila-Attidiya Sanctuary.
WWF – American Red Cross – EFL Humanitarian Environmental Partnership is an initiative set up to minimize the environmental damage caused as result of tsunami related rebuilding to a minimum level. This includes a number of projects aimed at addressing, advocating and minimizing solid wastes generated in the southern province through several projects. Notable activities of the initiative related to solid waste management are:
- Support the setting up of a polythene recycling centre in Southern Sri Lanka.
- Providing support to the Weligama Urban Council to improve/ upgrade their current composting facility.
- Providing Solid Waste Management in Community Reconstruction and Recovery Partnership (CRRP).
- Providing sustainable Solid Waste Management in Matara and Galle, in the Southern Province through community mobilisation.
Read EFL’s publication: Climbing out of the Garbage Dump
