USD 193 Million worth solid waste plants in Sri Lanka

• Two plants will add 20 Mega Watts of electricity to the national grid once commissioned.

• The first project will see 700 Metric Tons of waste generated from the Colombo Municipal Council• According to available data the Western Province alone produces around 60 percent of the nation’s waste, with 3,400 metric tons produced per day.

Since the tragedy in Meethotamulla, several issues have arisen over the management of solid waste. Obstructions in the disposal of garbage from Colombo is one of the key issues. The Urban Commissioner said, around 150 to 200 metric tonnes of garbage is collected daily during this period due to the Sinhala and Tamil new year and school holidays. A portion of this garbage was to be disposed at the garbage recycling plant in Dompe, on Thursday, April 20, when it was obstructed by a group including the former Chairman of Dompe.
All three plants are to be completed within a two-year period, the ministry said. Another PPP agreement has been signed with Fairway Holdings for a waste treatment plant in Karadiyana, where 500 MT of waste will be processed into energy. According to available data the Western Province alone produces around 60% of the nation’s waste, with 3,400 metric tons produced per day. About 86% of waste is dumped in the open with only about 6% of this made into compost and about 4% of it recycled. Handling garbage has turned the country’s very fragile political system in to a “black comedy” and we look forward to the positive or negative results of 

Now ironically under the “Yahapalanaya Government”, Sri Lanka will see 2 solid waste-to-energy power plants starting construction as 2 public-private partnership (PPP) projects in Muthurajawela. The total investment for the project will be around 193 million dollars, the Ministry of Megapolis and Western Province Development said. The two plants will add 20 Mega Watts of electricity to the national grid once commissioned and will convert waste generated in Colombo and Gampaha into energy.

The first project will see 700 Metric Tons of waste generated from the Colombo Municipal Council daily being processed through an incineration plant run by the Western Power Company, a fully-owned subsidiary of Aitken Spence Plc. The investment for the project will be 98 million dollars and will add 10 MW to the national grid. The second, also a PPP with a Korean company called K.C.H.T Jang, will invest US 95 million dollars to set up a plant to process up to 630 MT of unsorted waste generated from the suburbs of the Colombo and Gampaha districts. This plant will add another 10 MW to the grid. A 3rd project, with an investment of US 91 million dollars is also due to commence later this month.