TOTAL WASTE MANAGEMENT USING CLEANER PRODUCTION AND INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY PRINCIPLES IN SRI LANKAN HOTEL SECTOR

Abstract: Hotel sector is one of the main revenue earners in current Sri Lankan economy. This sector is rapidly growing post war period. Since tourists arrive Sri Lanka comes for diverse reasons hotels are located in all around the country to attracting these tourist groups and mostly this industry is located adjacent to environmentally sensitive places such as virgin forests, beaches and archeologically significant locations. Due to this number of protests and demonstrations also happened in certain places for opposing this industry expecting that there would be environmental damages sometime ago. Therefore, proper environmental management practices are of paramount importance. Waste disposal is one major area which needs to be addressed first and foremost. Waste generated in this industry can be divided into solid waste and waste water. Furthermore, solid waste can be divided into biodegradable and non degradable waste. Waste water is generated from the laundry, kitchen, toilet /bathroom cleaning etc. Some of the waste categories depend on the occupancy of the hotels and some depend on the reception functions which are held in hotels (ex. Kitchen waste generated after wedding functions etc). However, it is impossible to minimize this type of waste generation or to educate the guests on waste generated issues due to the nature of the industry and high competition in this sector. Therefore, best possible options remains are to have proper waste managemen