Intl. Conference on Waste Management on 22 March

An important International Conference on Waste Management focusing on creating a waste-free Sri Lanka will be held on 22 March 2013 in Colombo under a multi stakeholder initiative.

The full day event, to be held at the Cinnamon Lakeside, will see a host of international and local experts on waste management and green projects will share key insights.

Institutions such as the Ministry of Environment and Renewable Energy, Ministry of Industries and Commerce, UNIDO, SACEP, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce join hands with Geocycle in organising the event.

A spokesman said the objectives of the conference include: To make aware of the present status of industrial waste management in Sri Lanka and financial opportunities for green projects; to emphasise the importance of industrial and hazardous wastes management with special reference to global trends; to present best practices in industrial and municipal waste management; to resolve and develop a forum to address issues on policy and financial incentives for industrial and hazardous waste management in Sri Lanka; and inaugural declaration of ‘Sustainable Waste Management Day’ 21 March.

Expected participants for the conference mainly will be CEOs and GMs, environmental managers, consultants from the industries as well as some NGOs and regulatory bodies.

“An eminent panel of speakers will be sharing their success stories and best practices with regard to waste management with discussion sessions at the end of each session providing participants to raise their concerns,” the spokesman said.

Local and global overview of waste management, financial facilities available for greening industries, extended producer responsibility in minimising wastes in consumer perspective, hazardous waste management in Korea; history, present and perspectives beneficial uses of MSW for industries: best practices from China, hazardous waste management – local and overseas case studies; and supportive role of CEA in waste management.

The Government of Sri Lanka has a vision to be the ‘Wonder of Asia’ by developing industries, infrastructure, agriculture, information technology, tourism, education and a new sea port along the silk route. In the present day context, the envisaged development will further increase huge volumes of waste much beyond the capacity and capability of the industries. The country would face much more disastrous situations in the near future.

Therefore, it is imperative to plan and develop the industries and infrastructure to move towards sustainable consumption, productions and green markets. Out of the many pressing needs of waste management, sustainable disposal is a must.  

Hence Geocycle, the waste management arm of Holcim (Lanka) Ltd., took an initiative to dispose industrial wastes using existing facilities in environmental responsible manner. Since inception in 2003 up to now Geocycle has disposed more than 300,000 MT of waste without leaving any environmental liabilities for the future generations, which otherwise could have resulted in a huge environmental impact from uncontrolled dumping or open burning.

Geocycle is the only entity in Sri Lanka that holds the Environmental Protection License (EPL) for disposing of hazardous waste in an environmentally responsible manner through a globally accepted technology called co-processing.

During this tenure of service as a professional waste management service provider, Geocycle has developed its clientele to nearly 300, comprising multinational and local pioneer industries. Despite the fact that huge amounts of hazardous waste are generated, very few industries are managing them in environmental responsible manner. One of the main reasons for this is lack of awareness among the industrial community about prevailing sustainable options for waste management.

In this context, as a responsible partner in developing the country, Geocycle considers it is high time to create awareness among the industrial community and the general public. Hazardous waste management in particular has become a crucial issue for the industries and other sectors.  

In order to initiate a dialogue and plan for the future, Geocycle is organising the International Conference on Waste Management to arouse interest, create awareness and more importantly be an eye-opener for policymakers. The conference aims to drive all stakeholders towards sustainable waste management starting from collection up to final disposal, without leaving any environmental liabilities for future generations.