JICA joins CEA to overcome Sustainable Plastic Management challenges

JICA launched a new project titled ‘Project for Strengthening Plastic Management Capacity’ last month with a view to developing a sustainable system for plastic waste management.

With full utilization of JICA’s knowledge and network gained during the past over 20-years cooperation on solid waste management, JICA has entered a new phase aspiring circular economy targeting on plastic. This three-year project mainly works on the establishment of material flow monitoring mechanisms, the formulation and pilot implementation of action plans for plastic packaging waste and single-use plastic waste, and the capacity development of the Centre for Plastic Management newly established under CEA.

All the relevant organisations gathered at the First Joint Coordinating Committee meeting, chaired by Environment Ministry Secretary Dr. Anil Jasinghe on October 6. It was agreed to establish three working groups consisting of over 20 organisations for the project implementation.

Chief Representative of JICA Sri Lanka Tetsuya Yamada emphasized that “since plastic management system is complicated, cooperation with various stakeholders including private companies, research institutes, NGOs, development partners, etc. is critical factor for the project success. I believe that the Centre for Plastic Management will be able to accomplish such stakeholder engagement.”

CEA Director General Hemantha Jayasinghe, (Project Director of this project), highlighted the JICA assistance given to CEA so far and said that it is expected to lay a sound base in establishing a Centre for Management of Plastic at the CEA through this project. CEA would be able to monitor the stages of plastic management process and achieve their responsibilities assigned in the National Plastic Management Action Plan.

Team Leader of this project Dr. Naofumi Sato said that “we successfully agreed on the Work Plan of this project; accordingly, we would start detailed planning in the first year. We will focus on the in-depth coordination to establish cooperative relationships with many agencies for the development of a national plastics management database as well as the discussion and prioritization of pilot projects for Re-usable, Recyclable or Recoverable of Plastic Containers and Packaging Waste and Single Use Plastic waste.”

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