DUMPING IN A DANGER ZONE

Janaka Perera pinpoints the grave dangers to public health of dumping waste

For some, almost any waste is big money. Which is why it’s been transformed into a global trade, encouraging developed nations to export their waste to developing and poor countries for disposal or recycling.

According to media reports, the burden of the West’s toxic waste falls on most developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. South Asian nations including Sri Lanka have fallen victim to this menace and such transactions are commonplace.

Last year, Sri Lanka Customs reported that 240 garbage containers had arrived in Sri Lanka since 2017. More than 100 imported containers from the UK were reportedly found in the Colombo International Container Terminals (CICT) while there were another 130 in the Katunayake Export Processing Zone. Subsequently, 57 were reexported.

Residents in the area expressed fears that with rain, deteriorating waste could flow into nearby canals. Concerns were also raised as to whether this liquid waste would reach Muthurajawela, contaminate the estuary and eventually the ocean, and pose a threat to marine life – especially since the area is facing the threat of waste dumping.

According to a customs official, the 130 containers full of mattresses were sent as a dummy operation while those in the CICT comprised clinical waste – including materials discarded by mortuaries, syringes and other materials. The official stated that some materials had been liquidised and deteriorated to a point that they could not be examined due to their foul odour.


There are the issues of managing e-waste and plastic pollution too.

The growing use of the internet has led to an overconsumption of technology. Unlike other products, electronic items have a high obsolescence rate as devices are made to be replaced with newer technology before long, creating a replacement market.

Most countries – including some developing nations – have introduced legislation specifically for electronic waste management. But in Sri Lanka, a draft policy on effective e-waste management processes is yet to be implemented, apart from certain existing regulations.

Lecturer in the Department of Building Economics at the University of Moratuwa’s Faculty of Architecture, Harshini Mallawarachchi notes that once exposed to the surrounding environment, toxic substances contaminate the air, soil and water sources. They may eventually enter the bodies of humans and other living organisms through ingestion of food, dust, water, inhalation of gases and particles in the air, and skin absorption.

She points out that with Sri Lanka being a tropical country, electronic items become e-waste at a rapid rate due to the humidity, dust and temperature – unless high quality imported items are ‘tropicalised’ for durability.

A major challenge of e-waste disposal is recycling printed circuit boards, which contain precious metals such as gold, silver and platinum, as well as base metals including copper, iron and aluminium. One disposal method is melting circuit boards, burning cable sheathing to recover copper wire and open pit acid leaching to separate metals of value.

In 1989, the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal was adopted in response to a public outcry following the discovery that deposits of toxic waste were imported by Africa and other parts of the developing world in the 1980s. While Sri Lanka signed the convention, it has not been incorporated in national legislation.

As for plastic pollution, it has become a pressing environmental issue because of the rapid increase in global production. This transpires in different forms such as the accumulation of marine waste including non-biodegradable fishing nets. Recyclability decreases when plastic waste isn’t properly separated at the source as it mixes with organic or sanitary matter.

A major reduction in the public use of polythene has not been observed despite laws, rules, regulations and policies. The convenience of single-use plastic – such as polythene bags, food wrappers, packaging, water bottles and other products – have led to a throwaway culture that has proved destructive to the country’s ecosystem.

According to reports, discarded plastic bags containing edible items have led to the deaths of elephants, deer and other wild animals rummaging through garbage dumps.

Needless to say, chemicals from plastic contaminate water and affect aquatic life. When plastics are dumped in landfills, the hazardous chemicals present seep underground when it rains. The chemicals and toxic elements infiltrate the aquifer and pollute groundwater. Another risk is air pollution by way of toxic emissions such as carbon monoxide, chlorine and nitrites generated by burning plastics.

Environmentalists have noted that Sri Lanka ranks among the top 10 countries releasing plastic waste into the ocean. The immediate need therefore, is a ban on non-recyclable plastics.