By Gomi Senadhira
Sometimes, we can learn important lessons from the humblest people. That is what I did when I met Neelasiri, a few days ago. Actually, I didn’t meet him, physically. I only saw him on TV. Yet, I managed to learn an important lesson from him. He is one of those people who collect waste, in his case plastic waste, for a living. And, last month, he handed over 600 kilograms of plastic waste, to a recycling company, and earned 42,000 rupees. Even with a highly depreciated rupee, it is a good income for a person like Neelasiri. In addition to that, Neelasiri also helps to protect Sri Lanka’s environment as he collects discarded plastic waste that litters our roads, waterways, and beaches. If not for people like him, more plastic waste would end up in huge garbage dumps across the country.
To get a better insight into what I learned from Neelasiri, I spoke to the company, to which he supplies his plastic waste collection. That company has a few collection centres to which people like Neelasiri supply their daily collections. They informed me that they pay around rupees 45,000 per metric tonne of plastic waste. The company process around 250 metric tonnes of plastic waste, a month, and turn them into brushes, or other plastic products, and those even include yarn that is used by our apparel industry to produce Sri Lankan Cricket T-shirts. The recycling companies, like these, provide employment for thousands of people, like Neelasiri, and help to reduce environmental degradation.
But then I am aware Sri Lanka also imports plastic waste and have written a number of articles on the subject. According to the data available on the International Trade Centre website, in 2021 Sri Lanka imported 6,813 tons of plastic waste (HS3915) and had paid US$ 3.7 million. That is, on average, US$ 555, or Sri Lankan rupees 200,000 per ton! Neelasiri could have supplied it for rupees 70,000, or less! In addition, freight charges also add up to the import price! We also know in many countries the exporters are paid handsomely for recycling waste and some of it is also passed on to the importers! It is clear that something is terribly wrong in this operation. Not only do we import garbage, but do so at an exorbitant cost. In the process, Sri Lanka is getting fleeced.
Interestingly, it is not easy to import plastic waste into Sri Lanka. You need a license from Sri Lanka’s Central Environmental Authority (CEA), the government institution that is responsible for protecting our environment! The CEA has a responsibility to consider environmental impact before issuing a license! Then there are other agencies involved in this business, including the customs, the BOI, Trade and Finance Ministries, and the Department of Commerce. Remember, until recently, there was a clandestine garbage dump, to store imported garbage, within the Katunayake EPZ! So it is clear that some of the imported plastic waste ends up in local garbage dumps. The imports also take away job opportunities from some of the poorest people of the country.
More interestingly, 40 percent of Sri Lanka’s imports of plastic waste, that is around 3000 tons, came from China! Before 2017, China was the major importer of foreign garbage. In 2016, it imported 7.3 million tonnes of plastic waste, accounting for 56 percent of world imports. In 2017, China banned the import of plastic waste and, by 2021, its imports had stopped totally. China’s notification to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), on the ban, stated that China would stop accepting shipments of rubbish, such as waste plastic, as part of a campaign against “foreign garbage” as China “… found that large amounts of dirty wastes, or even hazardous wastes, are mixed in the solid waste that can be used as raw materials. This polluted China’s environment seriously. To protect China’s environmental interests, and people’s health, we urgently adjust the imported solid wastes list, and forbid the import of solid wastes that are highly polluted.” Unfortunately, those concerns do not apply to China’s exports of plastic waste to countries, like Sri Lanka!
Of course, the protection of Sri Lanka’s environmental interests and people’s health is not China’s responsibility. The government of Sri Lanka is responsible for those things. But the relevant government agencies, including the Central Environmental Authority, and the customs, are silently cooperating to promote the imports of “foreign garbage.” Since, China announced an unprecedented ban on its import of most plastic waste, in 2017, recycling processors, in countries like Singapore, are scrambling to find new markets, or garbage dumps, for plastic waste. And Sri Lanka, slowly but surely, is emerging as a potential prime destination, because it is a very lucrative way to make money and also to siphon out black money through over-invoiced imports!
The Island
