Compendium of Principles Applied and Technologies Developed for Managing Municipal Solid Wastes in Sri Lanka

Resistance to disposal of perishable wastes in dumpsites or even in sanitary landfills arose in the early 1990s with the syndrome of ‘NIMBY’ (not in my backyard). Therefore, research was focused on developing several composting technologies like Inclined Step Grate (ISG) for sloping lands and Solar Aerated Composting (SAC) for flat lands with downdraft air movement with filtration. Most of these systems are still working. Landfill pretreatment and bioreactor technologies were developed with the financial and technical support of the Asian Regional Research Program on Environmental Technologies (ARRPET) to divert wastes from landfills. Bioreactors can produce useful landfill gas of high quality. The success can be attributed to the composite liner developed by the university that won the Presidential Award. These technologies and the environmental impact assessment (EIA) approval enabled investors and financial institutions to approve a pilot project to implement rehabilitation of Gohagoda dumpsite and establish an integrated solid waste management system for Kandy Municipal Council. Implementation of the first stage of the project was undertaken, but the investment plan was not adhered to by the local business partners. Nevertheless, subsequent UN-Habitat-sponsored comprehensive integrated solid waste management plans could be implemented at provincial and local authority levels to protect populations and ecosystems.