Wasteful habits, wasted efforts
Municipal councils across the island are struggling with a multitude of problems in trying to get rid of waste and recycle separated and unseparated waste, while facing challenges from households that are not sorting out their garbage.
There are also not enough landfills in the country and households and industries have yet to make a tangible effort to reduce the waste they produce.
“Practical difficulties such as lack of public co-operation, lack of space for householders to hold separated items and lack of facilities to collect the items are issues,” said Pathinayakage Upali, a Colombo Municipal council worker.
Another CMC worker also complained that most households and offices do not separate waste. He recalls instances of residents handing over food waste mixed with plastic materials stuffed in polythene bags on the day of the week when the council collects organic waste.
“Some of us sort them out on the garbage truck itself, but what’s the use, all the garbage is dumped together at Methotamulla,” he revealed.
Another worker who had been on waste collection rounds for 36 years, laments that past efforts failed. Now, he says, council workers insist on only collecting biodegradables, while leaving polythene bags and plastic materials to be collected later. “But when we go back,we see all the plastic waste thrown on the roads. They become mosquito habitats,’’ he said.
A Maligawatte flats garbage truck driver complains that households are not changing their bad habits.
But he also complains that there are no separate areas at Methotamulla to dump recyclables, biodegradables, and nondegradables. “We just dump the rubbish at the government property purchased for garbage separation. There are no efforts to produce compost, or to recycle because there is no space.’’
Millions of public money is spent every year to manage waste.
The Ministry of Provincial Councils and Local Government said it spent Rs 600 million on garbage management programmes so far this year.
The ministry spent Rs 405 million for 70 hand carts, 14 polythene compactors, 14 Bobcat loaders and 28 compactors for Pradeshiya Sabhas.
Meanwhile, another Rs 100 million was spent to create two compost yards and upgrade six more compost yards including buying 8,000 compost barrels.
An administrative official of the ministry conceded that they face issues with space for disposal, waste segregation plants, compost and recycling plants. He also admitted that each of the 23 municipalities has its own issues in garbage collection and meetings are held to find solutions.
“We only provide guidelines to the municipal councils. Garbage collection is done by the councils,’’ he said. Each municipal council should collect and separate waste, he adds.
The official said that in future, incineration of most plastic waste can be done at some of the municipal council garbage segregation units and compost plants but for the time being, the plastic materials not suitable for recycling are sent to Puttalam to be incinerated by a private company.
Heads of a cross section of municipal councils said the government’s garbage separation initiative was being adhered to but that there are practical difficulties.
Balangoda Municipal Council Secretary Ms H.S.A Karunaratne spoke of difficulties in managing the waste. Some tractors are designated to collect organic waste, while other tractors are sent to gather polythene, metal and glass bottles. But there is not enough space to hold the garage that had been sorted, she said.
“Most of the garbage we collect is polythene. Although most of it is sorted for recycling, plastic materials which need to be destroyed is piling up at garbage dumps meant for organic matter,’’ she said.
Ms Karunaratne noted the need for an incinerator.
She said 12 tonnes of garbage is collected every day. While another site was used for disposal, public objections put a stop to that.
The Jaffna Municipal commissioner Ponnampalam Vageeshan said the council faced issues including difficulties in encouraging households to separate their waste. “We produced posters and carried out education campaigns but still most residents don't sort the garbage.”
He said the lack of electricity prevents the council from maintaining an incinerator. Even if an incinerator is available, it would be an additional cost.
Jaffna residents, however, reveal another picture - the council dumps sorted garbage that households hand over along with the rest in an abandoned area.
The Kaduwela Municipal Council Community development official Lalith Nanayakara said more than 100 tonnes of garbage is collected every day. Of this, more than 45 tonnes is biodegradable and is used to create compost.
Plastic and other materials are sorted and sold to recyclers. Another two tonnes of garbage is used to generate electricity for the recycling centre.
An administrative official at the Matara Municipal Council noted that the public response to the idea of sorting the garbage is improving. He said the dumping area is large and segregation and compost units operate on site.
He also said people who throw litter on sides of roads and dump garbage at abandoned private properties are fined.