PLASTICS
Promoting Long-term Approaches for a Sustainable, Transformative and Inclusive Circular Economy in Sri Lanka
About The Project
Sri Lanka has steadily increased its import of plastic, with over 500,000 metric tons (MT) of virgin plastic imported to the island annually, straining the national waste management system.
It is estimated that 1.59 million tons of plastic waste are mismanaged in Sri Lanka annually, of which approximately 69,000 tons ends up in canals, rivers and eventually the ocean, endangering marine ecosystems, and even leading to landfill collapses.
In Sri Lanka, the problems associated with plastic waste lie equally with the present haphazard disposal practices as with the rate of generation. In order to address this plastic waste issue, under the leadership of Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED), BSL is implementing a consortium project, titled Promoting Long-term Approaches for a Sustainable, Transformative and Inclusive Circular Economy in Sri Lanka.
The other partners in the consortium are Industrial Services Bureau (ISB), STENUM Asia and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). The proposed project will facilitate both plastic waste minimisation and management in Sri Lanka by integrating small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in a greener value and supply chain (V/SC), thereby contributing to economic prosperity and environmental sustainability.
One way of achieving this is through the establishment of a circular economy for plastic. Therefore, the proposed 48-months long action will specifically improve economic development within the plastic V/SC through SME resource efficiency, circular innovation, green finance, and sustainable waste management (SWM) frameworks in the Western Province.
The Way Forward
The action will target Sri Lanka’s Western Province with an estimated 5.82 million final indirect beneficiaries covering all household level consumers. The direct beneficiaries / target groups are 150 SMEs in the plastic V/SC who will benefit from enhanced green business development processes, including (1) brand owners and high plastic users, especially within the food and beverage value chains; (2) plastic producers/importers; (3) informal/formal collectors; (4) recyclers/up-cyclers; with a particular focus on women-led SMEs.
There are four main outputs of the project, BSL is responsible for Output Four:
- The traceability,
- transparency, and
- compliance to plastic SWM are strengthened through public-private dialogue, collaboration, and monitoring.
BSL aims to map relevant national/regional/international policies, legal frameworks, regulations, and initiatives related to plastic SWM, and will carry out a desk review of EPR frameworks in the country, region and beyond. BSL will undertake a consultative process to set up a management framework of the National Clearing House (NCH) for EPR on Plastic Waste so that it can become a self-sustaining resource and reporting center for plastic take-back schemes.
Further, the project will help to shape the national EPR dialogue as it will work with global partners in standardizing national EPR frameworks (inclusive of legal frameworks). To promote EPR standardization, BSL will undertake a national level communication campaign on EPR.
Multiple communication tools including social media will be deployed in rolling out this campaign. A key target group of the campaign will be SMEs in the plastic sector.
BSL will be accountable for communicating EPR at national level and facilitating EPR policy dialogues. BSL signed the project contract with the lead partner, ACTED in April 2022.
