Kaduwela MC and UNDP work towards sustainable waste management
COLOMBO – A biogas system designed to generate electricity and produce liquid fertilizer from bio degradable solid waste and transform the management of municipal waste, was handed over to the Kaduwela Municipal Council (KMC) under the leadership of Mayor Buddhika Jayavilal, on Sunday (21) morning. Participating in the handing over ceremony were Robert Juhkam, Resident Representative, United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Sri Lanka and Harsha Wickramasinghe, Deputy Director General, Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority.
A joint initiative of the UNDP and KMC, the waste management system, which aims to increase productivity of the Solid Waste Management Unit in Kaduwela to processing 10 tonnes of bio-degradable solid waste a day, follows the successful pilot phase of a demonstration unit capable of processing one tonne of bio degradable waste a day.
UNDP in Sri Lanka entered into a Government Co-Financed project with the KMC in December 2016 and has since been supporting the Council and the Government of Sri Lanka to effectively manage solid waste and generate biogas energy.
The project is a part of the government’s plans for a greener Sri Lanka, which aims to increase the use of renewable energy to 70% by 2023, and the government’s 2015 Energy Sector Development Plantomake Sri Lanka an energy self-sufficient nation by 2030.
The biogas system ensures waste, which would otherwise have ended up in landfills, now generates electricity that is exported to the grid and produces liquid organic fertilizer, resulting in a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 1000-1300 tonnes per annum.
Research shows the Western Province generates more than 59% of the country’s daily collection of waste, amounting to over 4200 tonnes, with high degree of biodegradability. However, the high biodegradability of the waste can also cause problems for the environment and society, unless effective and efficient waste management systems are established.
-ENCL