Mitigation of greenhouse gases through implementation of sustainable waste management practices in Sri Lanka : case study in Kurunegala municipal council area

Waste Management is a difficult task, especially for many developing countries. Theincreasing population and urbanization and the subsequent increasing quantities of waste andwastewater put many Municipal Councils for a great challenge. Collection, transport,treatment, disposal and recycling all have to be integrated in one major waste strategy plan.The majority of the cities do not provide adequate waste disposal mechanisms due to lack ofproper planning, capital and technology. For solid waste, open dumping and subsequentburning is often the only workable solution. However, the practice is a significant source ofair pollution, constituting a health risk for nearby communities. Additionally, this unplannedsolid waste treatment and disposal contributes to the emission of Greenhouse Gases [GHG].In this thesis the Clean Development Mechanism [CDM] methodology was used to asses thepossible implementation of sustainable waste management and faecal sludge management.CDM is a framework under Kyoto protocol, under which industrialized countries aremotivated to assist developing countries in reducing their GHG emission commitment. Thiswas done for the municipality of Kurunegala in the North-western province of Sri Lanka, acity where the population is 34,000 inhabitants, The city has very high number of floatingpopulation [visitors] leading to a very high waste generation of about 1 kg/capita/day. Thereis no waste management other than collection and transportation to a dump site where openburning is applied to make space for new waste.Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC] has formulated guideline to estimate theGHG emissions from solid waste disposal in landfill. For this study the 2006 guideline wereused to identify the data necessary for estimation. These data were gathered in a field studyusing open-end questionnaires, field observation and literature review. Four differentscenarios were formulated, differing in fraction of organic waste being composted andbrought to the landfill.The results show that more than 40% of organic separation gives GHG reduction through outthe project life time but the 50% organic separation gives the maximum emission reduction.On the other hand organic separation of 20-30% surprisingly gives increase in GHG emissionthan the baseline scenario from year 2007 to year 2021[first 14 year of project life time] andafter that towards year 2028 it gives the reduction of more than 40%. It is due to degradationof partially burned waste in the managed landfill and change of landfill management fromunmanaged to managed landfill after the commencement of the project. Managed landfillgives more emission than the unmanaged due to it anaerobic environment for a given amountof waste. For the sewage, GHG reduction can be achieved by the proposed sewage treatmentplant if the facility for methane recovery or flaring is provided for UASB construction. Thewaste minimization through the aerobic composting [home and central] along withimplementation of recycle, recovery and reuse [3R] will increase the life time of the landfilland reduce the overall waste management cost.All CDM projects are mitigation projects; it helps to maintain any system to be clean and toimprove global air quality. CDM methodology benefit all parties- the host country assisted inachieving sustainable development, the owner of the project receives financial andtechnological assistance, the emitter in the industrialized country receives carbon credits