CEA and IWMI hold stakeholder meeting

The Central Environmental Authority (CEA), in collaboration with the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), organised a stakeholder meeting last month to discuss improvements that can be made to the management of municipal waste in the City of Colombo. The meeting organised at the request of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC), was held at the headquarters of IWMI in Pelawatte, Battaramulla, and was a follow-up to the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between CEA and IWMI on July 19, 2013.

This meeting was held under the patronage of Minister of Environment and Renewable Energy, Susil Premajayantha, with the participation of ministry officials as well as officials from the Ministries of Defence and Urban Development, Agriculture, and Local Government and Provincial Councils, the CMC and other stakeholder institutions, such as the Waste Management Authority of the Western Province. Municipal Commissioner, Mrs. Bhadrani Jayawardhana, and several engineers attended the meeting on behalf of the CMC.

The CMC produces 700 tonnes of municipal solid waste per day, which represents about 25 % of the country’s total waste collection. 60 % of the waste consists of organic matter. The Minister said, “Municipal waste in the CMC, with its high moisture content and organic composition is very well suited for composting. Experience from phase 1 of the ‘Pilisaru’ National Solid Waste Management Project shows that composting can provide a solution to a large part of the organic waste, which otherwise has a high potential for pollution of our water bodies.”

The Minister assured the support of his ministry in carrying out the feasibility study for converting organic waste into compost in the CMC. “This study would extend to the Colombo Metropolitan Region (CMR) beyond the CMC,” he added.