THE ROLE OF CENTRAL ENVIRONMENTAL AUTHORITY IN MANAGING SOLID WASTE IN SRI LANKA

Large-scale solid waste generation, together with improper waste management systems (WMSs), has been a critical issue in the world today. Thus, properly managed WMSs are essential to ensuring the good health and environmental quality of the nation. This study explored the contribution of the Central Environmental Authority (CEA), empowered through the National Environmental Act (NEA), in managing solid waste in Sri Lanka, mainly based on secondary data gathered from the CEA annual reports, corporate plans and websites, and NEA. Informal discussions and interviews were conducted with CEA officials for more details and clarifications. The data gathered was qualitatively analyzed using techniques: thematic analysis and content analysis. The study reveals that CEA, coordinating with provincial and district offices, contributes substantially to managing waste/ solid waste/ hazardous waste in Sri Lanka. Through legislation, CEA influences industrialists and takes actions to minimize the volume of waste and its polluting density from the initial stage before commencing high-medium-polluting industrial activities and large-scale projects. Similarly, by delegating power to local authorities (LAs), CEA assists in managing waste/solid waste from low-polluting industries and households. CEA is also involved in initiating and amending regulations, and implementing them to streamline waste management practices. Thus, CEA’s role shows the importance of taking protective measures in advance to minimize the extent of waste and its pollution density. CEA has initiated large-scale waste management projects as well. The findings help relevant authorities take policy decisions, strategies, and actions to reform WMSs. In turn, these findings provide valuable insights for waste generators, collectors, and recyclers to be more attentive to their responsibilities, legal compliance, and potential for maintaining suitable WMSs. This study mainly focused on three divisions of CEA which are mostly related to waste management. Thus, it did not explore the role of other divisions of CEA and the difficulties/ challenges faced by related parties i.e., CEA, LAs, waste generators, collectors, and recyclers, in implementing waste management strategies and actions; all such unexplored areas are thus, exposed to future researchers.