USAID program helps prevent plastic entering ocean around Sri Lanka
COLOMBO – A nearly three-year partnership, supported by the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has seen communities across Sri Lanka successfully prevent more than 400 metric tonnes of plastic – the equivalent of 496 million plastic bottles – from entering the ocean around Sri Lanka. This has been achieved through the Clean Cities, Blue Ocean (CCBO) program, USAID’s global flagship program to address ocean plastic pollution, launched in Sri Lanka in 2021.
While demand for single-use plastics has grown in Sri Lanka, waste management systems have struggled to keep pace with only an estimated 20% of households having access to public waste collection services. With a high per capita consumption of plastic, Sri Lanka faces unique challenges in managing its solid waste.
A statement from the US embassy in Sri Lanka noted that through CCBO, the United States had partnered with local organizations to design and pilot innovative, economically viable, and environmentally sustainable solutions to address each step in the waste value chain, providing technical assistance and grants totalling more than US $1.2 million (Rs 382.8 million). As a result of these partnerships, an additional 625,000 Sri Lankans benefitted from improved solid waste services, it said, adding that communities around Colombo, Galle, and Jaffna have adopted sustainable practices that promote increased reuse and transformation of waste products into new items.
Dennis Wesner, deputy director of Economic Growth for USAID Sri Lanka and Maldives said the United States was helping Sri Lanka improve the management of its natural resources to build resilience and insulate the country from the harms of climate change, adding, “While CCBO is ending, our work will not stop. The United States will continue to work together with Sri Lankan counterparts to find locally viable solutions and reduce ocean plastics.”
Celebrating the collaborative efforts of Clean Cities, Blue Ocean Sri Lanka program that has helped develop sustainable solutions to reduce ocean plastic, Prabath Chandrakeerthi, Secretary, Ministry of Environment, said when confronting the escalating crisis of ocean plastic pollution, CCBO has been an exemplary partner in progressing their commitment to extended producer responsibility. “This initiative exemplifies our commitment to environmental stewardship, showcasing the positive impact of strategic partnerships and community engagement on creating cleaner, healthier cities for our citizens,” he added.
Globally CCBO’s goal is to reduce the estimated 11 million metric tonnes of plastic that flow into the ocean worldwide each year by targeting rapidly urbanizing areas of countries, a major source of ocean plastic pollution.
-US Embassy/Colombo
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