Colombo, Sri Lanka, 4 October 2021: Sri Lanka is in the process of transforming its current development trajectory into a green and low carbon pathway, with a concerted push towards a green economy and green development. Particularly, the recognition of progress made towards the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the necessity of increasing the contribution of renewable energy sources to our national energy needs is testament to Sri Lanka’s commitment to advancing balanced, inclusive green growth in the country.

To this end, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Sri Lanka signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Kaduwela Municipal Council (KMC) today to support the expansion of the waste to energy plant integrated with sustainable final disposal solutions for Health Care Waste, which produces a blueprint of best practices to be adopted across the country to advocate for more holistic waste management.   

This MoU will build on the years of collaborative work and longstanding partnership with KMC and UNDP in Sri Lanka, through the successful establishment of the Waste to Energy plant within the municipality. The expansion project will entail providing sustainable solutions to treat a further 20 Megatons (MT) of biodegradable municipal waste and health care waste generated in the municipality. A new biogas plant will be built to treat the additional 20 MT of biodegradable municipal waste, and an incinerator installed to primarily treat health care waste.  The renewable biogas generated by this biogas plant will be used in powering the incinerator to treat health care waste that will be equipped with emission control technology to comply with relevant standards. Working together with the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Environment and the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority, the project will look to mainstream sustainable waste management and energy generation to catalyze Green Development in Sri Lanka.  

This MoU is part of UNDP’s wider support to the Government of Sri Lanka to contribute towards shaping the national green development agenda through a multi-stakeholder approach to achieve sustainable long-term development objectives of the country.

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