MWRP Sri Lanka: Engaging Business Sectors to Reduce Plastic Waste

 Municipalities in Sri Lanka struggle to collect and properly dispose of solid waste in their jurisdictions, particularly the growing volume of plastic waste. Renewed economic growth, after the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war in 2009, has strained the country’s solid waste management system. Insufficient disposal sites and mismanaged processes have resulted in plastic waste increasingly being discarded in or near waterways, ultimately finding its way into the ocean. Local businesses often do not recognize opportunities to contribute to plastic waste reduction.

USAID’s Municipal Waste Recycling Program (MWRP) worked on the West Coast of Sri Lanka with public and private sector partners in the cities of Negombo and Katunayake (combined population of more than 200,000) to reduce ocean plastic pollution. Implemented by MWRP grantee Janathakshan Guarantee Limited (Janathakshan), the team collaborated with local supermarket chains to reduce plastic shopping bag use given much of Sri Lanka’s plastic waste comes from low-value, single-use items, such as plastic bags from shopping markets. Janathakshan also worked with solid waste management officials to empower women in the industry and improve collection efficiency by linking public waste collection and private recyclers with local businesses, fishing boat owners, and households.