Monday, February 9, 2009

Moonplains Sanitary Landfill Site - 06 February


Lynsey and I visited the engineered landfill while the guys explored the town. The landfill was engineered and financed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency and it is the only landfill in Sri Lanka. The landfill can handle medical waste, gully sucker waste (sewage basically), and trash. They utilize a vertical gas ventilation facility and leachate collection and filtration facilities. What I found most interesting was their use of coconut fiber to treat the leachate (see photo). The leachate flows through ten stages of filtration before coming out as clear water that is clean enough to drink. This water drains into thenearby wetlands.

The city of Nuwara Eliya has made significant strides in trash management. It is a very clean city and has readily available trash receptacles and recycling containers. Since something like 75% of the garbage is food related the city instituted a home composting program. Between recycling and compositing the city has managed to minimize the amount of trash taken to the landfill. RC Nuwara Eliya contributes to the city beautification by providing the color-coded recycling bins.

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