This is a project that was carried out to find methods and possible ways to implement a waste management system in Sri Lanka especially for urban areas. The presentation of this report can find in the following link https://www.slideshare.net/Lahiru_Dilshan/waste-management-project-proposal-for-sri-lanka-169972848

1. SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME
PROJECT CLEAN LANKA
PROJECT PROPOSAL

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1 Abstract
Waste management has become a major issue in Sri Lanka. Due to the unorganized
collection and disposal of waste, the country is facing a crisis. Piles of garbage becoming
bigger, requiring more space day by day, causing many health issues, social problems and a
serious long-term environmental crisis.
The main purpose of this project is to filter the garbage and use them for other recyclable
options through various recyclable facilities and make a profitable outcome.
In this project, methods have been developed to minimize the amount of garbage by
filtering plastics, paper and metal, ultimately leading to a reduction of more than 50% of the
existing amount of garbage. The process was developed through investigating general waste
composition and to deliver filtered material in the recyclable status.
By imposing new regulations for the collection and management of garbage, the work load
in the filtering plant can be mitigated and the waste can be directly fed to the recycling plants
delivering a positive effect on income, solving related issues.

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2 Table of Contents
1 Abstract ........................................................................................................................i
2 Table of Contents ........................................................................................................ii
3 Table of Figures .........................................................................................................iv
4 Table of Tables...........................................................................................................iv
5 Overview.....................................................................................................................1
6 Context ........................................................................................................................2
7 Project Description......................................................................................................3
7.1 Aim and objectives ..............................................................................................3
7.2 Project Description...............................................................................................3
7.2.1 Waste collection system and transfer system ...............................................3
7.2.2 Waste storage................................................................................................3
7.2.3 Waste processing system..............................................................................4
7.2.4 Waste disposal system..................................................................................4
7.3 Legal status ..........................................................................................................4
7.4 Waste Collection System Feasibility analysis .....................................................5
7.4.1 Financial feasibility ......................................................................................5
7.4.2 Social feasibility ...........................................................................................5
7.4.3 Ecological feasibility....................................................................................5
7.5 Filtering plant Feasibility analysis.......................................................................6
7.5.1 Technical feasibility .....................................................................................6
7.5.2 Social feasibility ...........................................................................................7
7.5.3 Financial feasibility ......................................................................................7
7.6 Waste disposal plan feasibility analysis...............................................................9
7.6.1 Waste selling.................................................................................................9
7.7 Time plan ...........................................................................................................10
8 Project monitoring and control..................................................................................12

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9 Market Analysis ........................................................................................................13
9.1 Potential customers............................................................................................13
9.2 Market targets ....................................................................................................13
9.3 Demand for solid waste generation and disposal...............................................13
9.4 Public survey......................................................................................................14
10 Budget....................................................................................................................15
10.1 Total project budget ...........................................................................................15
10.2 Project financial feasibility analysis ..................................................................15
10.2.1 Profit/ Loss estimation................................................................................16
10.2.2 Cash flow statement estimation..................................................................17
10.2.3 Net Present value (NPV) ............................................................................18
Annex 1 – Waste sorting system analysis.........................................................................20
Annex 2 – Waste sorting plant conceptual design and sorting process............................21
Annex 3 – Waste sorting machines ..................................................................................24
Annex 4 – Public awareness on waste management and recycling – Survey ..................25

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3 Table of Figures
Figure 1- Waste composition in Sri Lanka.........................................................................2
Figure 2 - Process of waste sorting plant............................................................................6
Figure 3 - Sorting plant.......................................................................................................8
Figure 4 - Average weight of solid waste per day in districts ..........................................13
Figure 5 – Future waste generation in colombo district ...................................................13
Figure 6 – Method of solid waste disposal in Colombo district in 2012..........................14
Figure 7 – NPV vs. CoC...................................................................................................19
4 Table of Tables
Table 1 - Waste generation in western province by cities..................................................2
Table 2 - Waste sorting approaches....................................................................................6
Table 3 – Waste sorting configurations..............................................................................7
Table 4- Factors need to be consider ..................................................................................8
Table 5 - Prices variation of sorted waste...........................................................................9
Table 6 - Total estimated budget ......................................................................................15
Table 7 - Profit/ Loss estimation ......................................................................................16
Table 8 - Profit/Loss estimation summary of 1st year to 10th year..................................16
Table 9 - Cash flow statement estimation.........................................................................17
Table 10 - Net Present Value............................................................................................18
Table 11 - Payback methods.............................................................................................19

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5 Overview
The waste generation rate has been significantly increasing throughout the past decade,
and is expected to increase rapidly, further in future due to population growth and urbanization.
Statistics show that, annual waste generation is expected to increase from 70% by 2050, which
is 3.4 billion tons and average solid waste generation per day is 7000MT and the western
province accounts for 60% of the total.
Residents in Sri Lanka, especially the urban poor, are severely affected by unsustainably
managed waste and around 80% of waste is dumped at huge lands. So, due to lack of proper
waste collection procedure, considerable percentage of waste is burnt openly or often disposed
in unregulated dumps. These unethical practices result in severe safety, health and
environmental consequences.
Reducing and eliminating adverse impacts of waste materials on nature and human health,
would support economic development and superior well-being of human life. There are six
functional disciplines associated with solid waste management program.
1. Waste generation
2. Onsite handling, storage and processing
3. Waste collection
4. Waste transfer and transport
5. Waste processing and recovery
6. Disposal
The Central Environmental Authority (CEA) initiated a 10-year waste management project
named ‘Pilisaru Program’ in 2008 for a “waste free Sri Lanka by 2018”. Eventually, project
was failed due to ineffective and inconsistent practices. No proper waste management program
could cure eye sores in Bluemendhal, Meethotamulla, Karandeniya, Kolonnawa areas. In 14th
of April 2018, the burst of the Meethotamulla garbage mountain killed 30 people, destroying
more than 100 houses. Even after the Meethotamulla incident, no significant action was taken
by the government, until today.
Initial capital cost to establish an effective waste management system is estimated to be
significantly higher, according to the past data obtained from waste management projects in
other countries. Therefore, proper funding becomes a priority of a waste management project.
Afterwards, maintaining and operating that would require efficient integrated systems which
are sustainable and socially supported.

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6 Context
Establishment of a solid waste management plant consists of several stages. At the initial
stage, design inputs of the project should be given by segmenting waste management
requirement and most critical design inputs should be identified.
Biodegradable waste can be identified as mostly produced waste type in Sri Lanka.
‘Other’ waste product type which occupies 17% of the chart may include electronic waste,
metallic waste etc.
(National solid waste management program in Sri Lanka, CEA)
Table 1 - Waste generation by province
Table 1 - Waste generation in western province by cities
Figure 1- Waste composition in Sri Lanka

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7 Project Description
7.1 Aim and objectives
Aim
Establish an effective solid waste management system for Sri Lanka which suits to the
social and economic behaviour of the country and implement a solid waste management plant
to contribute to the country’s economy.
Objectives
• Initiate an efficient solid waste collecting system by evading infirmities in the
traditional system.
• Establish new waste recycle centres
• Increase the contribution and involvement of the public to the project
• Evaluate options of profit making
7.2 Project Description
1. Waste collection and transfer system
2. Waste storage system
3. Waste processing system
4. Waste disposal system
7.2.1 Waste collection system and transfer system
Implementation of waste collection centres, would encourage the public to support in
maintaining the cleanliness. A systematic approach will be implemented in order to raise the
awareness of households, about the importance and benefits.
The transportation of waste from households to the waste collection centres will be
done by a well-established garbage collection vehicle service. Effective transportation methods
and schedules will be implemented, evading infirmities within the traditional system.
7.2.2 Waste storage
Selection of a land for storage without affecting the health of the neighbourhood is utmost
important. Proper ecological, financial, and technical feasibility studies should be done, before
implementing these storage systems.
Waste storages should be separately maintained as unprocessed, temporary, and treated..
After separation, there would be a separate storage for hazardous waste. Necessary conditions

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for the filtered waste would be implemented within the storage, to maintain its recyclable state
until it’s delivered to the recycling centres.
7.2.3 Waste processing system
In this section, waste would be sorted and further processing steps will be followed
including washing, removing, detailed categorization and compressing. Compression
(shredding, pelletizing, pressing and packing) is done to reduce the cost of transportation.
Separate ecological, technical and financial feasibility studies will be carried out, so that
would help to finalize the filtering process upon factors as selected location, type of land,
available expertise, technology and allocated budget.
7.2.4 Waste disposal system
After filtering, the remaining waste will be collected separately and systematically
disposed through composting, landfills and incineration chambers, depending upon the content
of the waste. The content will be decided through visual inspection and technical reports, and
then directed to the relevant disposal method.
Since, the filtered waste will be washed and cleaned separately in the final process,
Generated waste water should undergo proper treatment, sedimentation and filtering to reduce
the impact to the environment.
After recovering the waste to the highest possible extent, remaining non-recyclable, non-
hazardous waste can be used to landfills.
7.3 Legal status
As this project is based on waste sorting and handling, the factors should meet the
requirements of National Environment Act No. 47 of 1980 (as amended by amendment act
no.56 of 1988 and as amendment act no.53 of 2000).
The process of disposal of waste should comply with current environment impact
assessment of Gazette (Extra ordinary) No. 722/22 of 24th
June 1993. Noise level should
maintain at the boundaries as mentioned in the Gazette (Extra ordinary) No. 924/12 of 23rd
May 1996.

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7.4 Waste Collection System Feasibility analysis
7.4.1 Financial feasibility
Automated collection may not be feasible for the country at the moments due to the higher
financial requirement.
Even though it’s convenient, it’s practically impossible to collect garbage daily. We can
prioritize the level of requirement and proceed with the collection as daily, thrice a week and
twice a week. Usage of common bins can help to further plummet the cost of handling.
When collecting frequency is reduced, more transportation capacity will be essential.
Waste transportation being a major expense in waste collection, should be considered.
Door to door collection would be the most expensive method, but due to the effectiveness
and the convenience of the majority, the service will have to be utilized to provide the optimum
service.
Cleaner cities will result in a good recognition, ultimately adding a positive effect in the
tourism industry, which benefits in attracting investors for the growth of our economy.
7.4.2 Social feasibility
Even though, daily garbage collection will have a better public convenience inside
households, excessive resources being used to collect small amounts of garbage, will
compromise the efficiency of the system.
When the collected frequency reduces, people tend to dump garbage illegally, due to the
available personal storage capacity. Improper waste disposal, leads to blocked drains, increased
contaminated water bodies, increased infections and diseases.
Door to door collection is the most convenient and effective method for the public, but
economic feasibility study should consider, waste pooling sites as next best option.
Residential waste collection frequency can be reduced to twice a week. But the
commercial, industrial waste collection will have to be done daily, due to the higher amount of
waste accumulation. Public ideas should also be considered to further optimize the system.
7.4.3 Ecological feasibility
Minimal health risks would arise with daily waste collection, but it will carry the most
usage of fuel in transportation, and traveling waste trucks in streets would cause bad odor.
Usage of common bins is environmentally sound, but possibility of negative impacts
exists, if not properly managed. The waste collection stations should be safely designed, since

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the risk of typhoid, cholera, diarrhoea, infections and skin diseases, exists to the
neighbourhood.
Solid waste management deserves a bigger focus, especially as a country who depends
largely on tourism, in order to protect natural beauty of water bodies, forest reserves.
7.5 Filtering plant Feasibility analysis
Sorting is acted as a filter between collection and disposal and most materials can be
recovered. The sorting configuration varies from simple manual sorting to complex automatic
multi-process sorting line.
The configuration of the plant depends on planned input and output, level of technology
and financial available. Also, there are two different conceptual approaches as positive sorting
and negative sorting. Both of these methods are used in sorting process.
Mixed MSW has less value compared with sorted waste. There are three sorting
configurations used in sorting plants.
7.5.1 Technical feasibility
Several techniques can be used in the sorting process as moving beds, drums and screens,
air separation, etc. After sorting MSW, further processes can be carried out to sort plastics
Figure 2 - Process of waste sorting plant
Table 2 - Waste sorting approaches

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again. That will determine the quality of the material output. These are relevant technologies
which can be used in waste sorting.
Apart from the sorting machines, plant will need movers to move, load and unload waste
within the operating area. The conceptual sorting plant diagrams are in the annex 2.
7.5.2 Social feasibility
In the sorting plant, the safety of environment and employees should be considered. There
should be good ventilation system, odor, noise, vibration and litter control. Potential for
exposure to hazardous material should be managed and safety equipment should be used during
the operating hours. There should be appropriate facilities for site staff and workers including
showers, hand basins, drinking water supply, etc. Rotting garbage within the yard should be
avoided by “first in first out” practice. With the sorting plant, the infrastructure on the particular
area will be developed, creating many new jobs for the country.
7.5.3 Financial feasibility
There are several facts which need consideration, when deciding on manual and automatic
sorting. These two methods have unique features, and both can be utilized to obtain the
maximum outcome from the project.
Table 3 – Waste sorting configurations

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The quality control should exist at the end of the sorting process to ensure that materials
meet the demanded technical specification so that lab testing facility should be initiated, which
can be used to future research and development processes.
There are several phases in construction of sorting plant. During planning, costs are
divided into site selection, design activities, preparation of tender document and procedures.
Construction phase includes land purchase, process equipment, supporting equipment,
maintenance, labour, environmental protection and others. Main operational costs are
associated with labour, energy, resource consumption, maintenance, insurance, monitoring and
control.
Considering these effects, conceptual design of sorting plant is in annex 2-figure 3.
Figure 3 - Sorting plant
Table 4- Factors need to be
consider

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7.6 Waste disposal plan feasibility analysis
7.6.1 Waste selling
Sorted waste is categorized as biodegradable, plastic, paper and carboard, glass, e-waste,
metal and other. There is a sufficient market to sell these piles and have the potential to import.
This process should be implemented through Central Environmental Authority. There can be
bilateral arrangements between processor and the buyer so that standards can be implemented
and that cause to guarantee the sales of products. Remaining biodegradable waste can be used
for Bio gas generation and compost production.
Table 5 - Prices variation of sorted waste

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7.7 Time plan

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8 Project monitoring and control
Most of the parts of this project is guided by Central Environmental Authority (CEA) and
will also be responsible for project monitoring and controlling.
The quality of the sorted waste is monitored using lab reports. A dedicated maintenance
section is appointed for emergency maintenance cases. Description of maintenance procedures,
employee training, health and safety provisions, emergency procedures should be well planned.
Efficiency is monitored using Key Performance Indicator (KPI).

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9 Market Analysis
9.1 Potential customers
There exist recycling plants within the region, which will be major target customers for
the project.
9.2 Market targets
It is suggested to gradually increase the covered area and to cover the whole Colombo
district within a year.
9.3 Demand for solid waste generation and disposal
Western province is responsible for more than 50% of waste production and Colombo is
the largest waste generated district in Sri Lanka (Colombo Municipal Council, 2012).
According to the figure 3, it can be predicted that the amount of solid waste collection would
keep on increasing in Colombo district.
Figure 4 - Average weight of solid waste per day in districts

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9.4 Public survey
A research was carried out successfully using a sample of 390 people, mainly consisting
students from southern and western provinces.
Only 40%, are handing their garbage over to the urban council and 3rd
party collectors,
and over 40%, collect all their garbage and burn. This shows that the waste collected frequency
in relevant areas are not sufficient.
Only 40% is making compost which can easily be further improved, through raising
awareness in the public. Over 50% are willing to sort their garbage and hand over.
Majority thinks that the garbage collection is a problem, and over 95% knows that this
issue will lead to cause illnesses. This sets up a perfect opportunity to introduce a proper waste
management system (annex 4).
Figure 6 - Method of solid waste disposal in Colombo district in 2012
Figure 5 - Future waste generation in Colombo district

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10 Budget
10.1 Total project budget
10.2 Project financial feasibility analysis
With the consideration of forecasted profit loss analysis and forecasted cash flow
statements, Net Present Value (NPV) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) values were estimated.
A positive NPV of 1,638,719.60 is estimated with a IRR of 21.51% which is greater than
CoC of 12% which can be concluded that the project is financially feasible.
Simple payback period is estimated as 4 years 10 months and discounted payback period
is estimated as 6 years 8 months which is financially profitable.
Table 6 - Total estimated budget

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10.2.1 Profit/ Loss estimation
Table 7 - Profit/ Loss estimation
Table 8 - Profit/Loss estimation summary of 1st year to 10th year

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10.2.2 Cash flow statement estimation
Table9-Cashflowstatementestimation

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10.2.3 Net Present value (NPV)
Table10-NetPresentValue

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Table 11 - Payback methods
Figure 7 - NPV vs. CoC

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Annex 1 – Waste sorting system analysis
Table 1 - Waste sorting mechanisms

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Annex 2 – Waste sorting plant conceptual design and sorting process.
Figure 1 - Flow diagram of a mixed municipal waste sorting plant

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Figure 2 - Flow diagram of a mixed plastic waste sorting plant

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Figure 5 - Conceptual flow diagram of waste sorting plant

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Annex 3 – Waste sorting machines

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Annex 4 – Public awareness on waste management and recycling – Survey

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