MAS pilots innovative trash trap project to address marine plastic issue at source
In a country that is rich in biodiversity and marine ecosystems, today the stunning natural reserves of Sri Lanka face considerable threat due to the issue of plastic pollution. While beautiful stretches of golden sand fringe the nation, many of them are covered in the remnants of our own consumerism, with plastic waste lining the beaches. Data from the Environment Ministry suggests approximately 400mt of plastic waste is generated daily within Sri Lanka.
MAS Holdings is piloting an innovative solution to cap the problem at the source itself, by capturing plastic waste in the rivers and canals, which play a critical role in transporting mismanaged plastic waste from land to ocean. By installing trash traps in the canals that push plastic waste into our oceans, MAS plans to address the issue head on by trapping, collecting and removing plastic waste before reaching the ocean. The pilot of the proposed solution, a prototype ‘ocean strainer’ trash trap, was placed in the Dehiwala canal recently, to prevent plastic waste from reaching the ocean through the canal mouth.
The pilot, which is an expansion of MAS’ ocean plastics initiative, was launched on August 18, 2020, with the participation of Western Provincial Council Local Government and Environmental Affairs Ministry Secretary Chandrani Samarakoon, Western Provincial Council Local Government Ministry Director Planning Sumith Nishantha Perera, MAS Holdings Director Environmental Sustainability Sharika Senanayake and other members of the respective teams.
“The issue of marine plastics is a complex one. Not only must the oceans be cleaned of existing plastics that pollute the waters and beaches but new plastic waste must be stopped from entering the oceans. Different forms of trash traps are used around the world to collect floating waste from rivers, preventing mismanaged trash from inland waterways from reaching the oceans.
At MAS, we started working on the ocean plastic issue in 2015, not only to help clear up our beaches of plastic waste but also to upcycle that waste by recycling the plastic to create yarn that can be used in our products. Developing the ‘ocean strainer’ is the next step in this effort, to create a more sustainable approach to addressing the marine plastic issue by capturing it at the source,” said MAS Holdings Head of Sustainable Business Sid Amalean.
“Our team wanted to ensure that we worked together with the relevant local experts to not only learn from the global best practices but also understand the context of our local marine environment and canal systems to develop a trash trap design specific to the Sri Lankan conditions. The ‘ocean strainer’ that we have installed in the Dehiwala canal is the pilot of this project; the beginning of a journey that we hope will help us understand the impact of this trash trap design and the scope of the plastic pollution issue in the waterways in and around Colombo, that will help us improve and replicate this solution at other locations,” added MAS Holdings Director Environmental Sustainability Sharika Senanayake.
This initiative is the result of a successful private-public collaboration between MAS, the Western Provincial Council, Marine Environment Protection Authority, Sri Lanka Land Reclamation and Development Corporation (SLLRDC), with the support of the Western Province Tourism Development Authority, Environmental Police and the people of the Dehiwala area.
Marine Environment Protection Authority General Manager Dr. P.B. Terney Pradeep Kumara added, “From all the waste that reaches the ocean, only 30 percent comes back to shore, which means 70 percent remains at sea. This means preventing plastic waste from reaching the ocean is a very crucial step of marine environment protection. MEPA and MAS started to engage to find a sustainable solution to the marine pollution issue and collaborated on this pilot. The trash trap acts as a mesh fence above and below the water level, capturing the waste. It also allows the public to see how much plastic waste gets collected and therefore raises their awareness on the scale of the problem.”