Municipal Waste Recycling Program (MWRP) – Sri Lanka Country Profile

Each year, eight million metric tons of plastic pour into the world’s ocean. This global crisis is exacerbated by poor waste management systems of rapidly urbanizing coastal cities in developing countries. Recent scientific research shows Sri Lanka contributes up to 640,000 metric tons of plastic waste to oceans annually, making it the world’s fifth largest polluter by total mass of mismanaged plastic debris.

THE CHALLENGE

Each year, eight million metric tons of plastic pour into the world’s ocean. This global crisis is exacerbated by poor waste management systems of rapidly urbanizing coastal cities in developing countries. Recent scientific research shows Sri Lanka contributes up to 640,000 metric tons of plastic waste to oceans annually, making it the world’s fifth largest polluter by total mass of mismanaged plastic debris.

Sri Lanka has experienced renewed economic growth since the end of the country’s long civil war in 2009. This development has put a strain on the country’s solid waste management system. The mismanagement of the increasing amounts of solid waste and an insufficient number of disposal sites have led to a growing volume of plastic waste discarded near or in the waterways, ultimately finding its way into the ocean.