Over the weekend, I visited the Kaduwela Waste Management Facility for the opening of one of the first biogas plants in Sri Lanka. My father who is the UNDP resident representative was there to open the biogas facility alongside the Kaduwela mayor, Buddhika Jayavilal. Upon arrival to the facility, I was met with the foul stench of trash. Luckily, I was wearing 2 masks to ensure protection form the coronavirus which actually helped reduce the smell. A few minutes after my father introduced me to his colleagues, the mayor arrived and my father and the mayor spoke briefly introducing themselves to each other. There was a lot of press present trying to find the perfect angle for the perfect shot.
After a quick introduction about the plant, we were given a tour of the facility and the process for managing waste. My father, his colleagues, the mayor, the municipal council and myself walked through the plant for the tour. The first stop was the unveiling of the plaque that signifies the opening of the biogas plant. This was the perfect opportunity to get some photos for the press. Next we went over to the biogas facility itself. They take organic waste such as left over food and let it heat up to produce the necessary electricity to power the entire trash facility and surrounding homes. My father was there to actually power up the biogas generator and begin process. Another product of the biogas plant is liquid fertilizer which can be used for agriculture.
From there we all moved to the main facility where all of the trash that comes into the facility is sorted and processed. There were mounds of trash just piled up waiting to be processed. Some of the piles were for compost and you could actually see the steam rising from it. Next we made our way to machine that actually separates plastics from organic waste. This is a new machine was recently added along with the biogas facility. This machine is extremely useful and efficient as it saves a lot of time since people don’t need to sorta the trash by hand. However, the waste management facility is still advocating people at the household level to sort their own trash. My father was the one who actually powered on the machine and we got to see it in action. I actually was surprised at how well it sorted the waste.
After the tour we all headed back to the entrance of the plant for photo op and speeches. This lasted for around 30 minutes and it was close to becoming unbearable in the hot sun. After the speeches were finished, it was time to say our thanks and head home. I was very happy that I came along with my father as I learned a lot about how this can be the future of power in Sri Lanka and the world. It was also very useful for my extended essay as it gave me the idea to do it on waste management in Sri Lanka.
Link to an article:
Kaduwela MC & UNDP launch biogas project to process 10 tonnes of solid waste per day