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Saturday, July 14, 2007 

Facing the recycling challenge - Sethsevana on an ambitious green project

A few minutes drive past the Ratmalana junction in close proximity to the main road overlooking the Lunawa swamp sits the Seth Sevana Foundation on 40 perches of land. I had expected the worst. After all, a garbage dump should have an awful smell but I was pleasantly surprised.

Seth Sevana Foundation deals only with industrial waste and not domestic waste. “Only household garbage smells,” explained Lloyd Fernando the Project Manager of the Foundation.
The Foundations proprietor, D S Ferdinando has made quite a career change since his retirement as a teacher at the School for the Deaf and Blind, Ratmalana. We often talk about ‘making a difference’ in terms of benefiting the country, community and most importantly oneself. Having a re-cycling company helps make the ‘difference’ explained Ferdinando. “I only wanted to secure the future of the physically impaired,” said Ferdinando, who has been able to contribute to the development process of the country while also reaping good profits out of the venture.

The seemingly drastic change in career had taken place gradually. Retiring in the early 1990’s Ferdinando employed his physically impaired students to manufacture metal chairs by using waste metal. Four successful years later the Sri Lankan arena was flooded with plastic chairs leading to the downfall of his project, Fernando said.

“We started in 1996 at a time where re-cycling was unheard of.. “Waste management is not even a subject in our universities to date” Fernando added. Looking into the practicality of starting a solid waste management project was the first move he made. The Community Environmental Initiative Facility (CEIF) a non- governmental organization, helped to set up the waste management project of the Seth Sevana Foundation (SSF).

Degradable waste has the ability to undergo chemical or biological decomposition or rot and is therefore environmentally friendly, Fernando explained. According to research conducted in 1999 by the Ministry of Forestry and Environment, 185 tons of non-degradable polythene and plastic waste are disposed of within the Colombo district each day and 40 tons within Colombo city. “That was the last time a research was conducted on waste” said Fernando.

According to the American Society of Plastics Industry (ASPI) there are about 50 different groups of plastics and hundreds of varieties. All types of plastic are recyclable. To make sorting and recycling easier, ASPI has developed a standard marking code to help consumers identify and sort the main types of plastic.

The types and most common uses are HDPE- High Density Polyethylene – bottles used for milk and washing liquids, LDPE- Low Density Polyethylene – carrier bags and bin liners, PVC – polyvinyl chloride – Food trays, cling film, bottles for mineral water and shampoo, PET – polyethylene terephthalate – fizzy drink bottles and oven ready meal trays, PP – polypropylene – margarine tubs, microwaveable meal trays and PS – polystyrene – plastic egg cartons and plastic cutlery. Other plastics such as melamine do not fall into any category.

A ton in general terms is equal to the weight of a high roof van. This small scale organization takes in 30 tons of industrial waste polythene (polythene bags used in clothing factories) and plastic (empty car battery boxes) per month and recycles it into small tablet sized grey plastic pellets. These re-usable pellets can be used to make plastic products. “We cannot use all polythene, like most washing powder packets due to the cover being laminated”, Fernando said, adding that “the plastic pellets are re-used to produce colorful plastic balls and dolls etc”.

“It is very important for the polythene and plastic to be as clean as possible” Fernando said. A task easier said than done. The beginning of the process involves pain staking hours of hand picking the unwanted tape on polythene bags and washing and drying the bags and battery boxes. Washing takes up a bulk of the time given that advanced technological washing machines are not at their disposal due to financial constrains. Fernando said. “The government should try to provide technological help which will increase our productivity and efficiency”. “Each day we re-cycle one ton, but washing machines can increase it to five tons a day” he added.

On the 21st of May this year, the Central Environment Authority (CEA) initiated the solid waste management campaign to combat the adverse effects of non-degradable waste on the environment, said Rizvi Majid, Project Manager, National Post Consumer Plastic Waste Management.

“Before getting down to meeting the re-cycling companies and increasing their productivity, we want to set up a system like bottle and paper collection centers for plastic and polythene collection” he added..

A similar project is in the pipeline for the rapidly growing Kaduwela Pradeshiya Sabha area. This will be carried out along with an awareness programs aimed at educating the student population on the negative outcome of non- degradable waste. The main objective of the project “is to train villagers to collect polythene and plastic in a bag and get the Pradeshiya Sabha to store it in a warehouse before providing it to the re-cyclers to be re-used” Majid said.

According to Jayawilal Fernando, Director of Hazardous Waste Management at the CEA “lunch sheets and old bags were not thick enough to be recycled.”. The islandwide ban on manufacturing and using polythene with a thickness of less than 20 microns was imposed on January 1 this year but later extended to the April 1, 2007, Fernando said.

“We don’t have facilities to transport the required raw material” said Fernando. He hopes that the government will be able to implement a system similar to the Kaduwela Pradeshiya Sabha in Ratmalana…

In April 2007 Engineers for Social Responsibility (ESR) held a meeting in Auckland, New Zealand which was addressed by Sean Finnigan who spoke of work being carried out in developing solid waste management (SWM) processes in Sri Lanka. ESR found that the waste composition in Sri Lanka is mostly compostables with only 10-12% of recyclables.

In developed countries meanwhile only 50% is compostable and 30-40% is recyclable waste Finnigan said. As Sri Lanka becomes more urbanised and the economy grows, waste generation is expected to increase and surely the challenges facing society to recycle will become bigger.

(http://www.dailymirror.lk/2007/07/14/feat/02.asp)

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From village hen to broiler chicken- Organic farming; the way forward

There has been quite a bit of controversy regarding Genetically Modified (GM) food in the past with unresolved issues, myths about the nutritional value circulating but what is the story behind organically produced food? If it is understood correctly this is food grown with absolutely no added chemicals, no sprayed pesticides and no synthetic fertilizer. Compare this with the vegetables available today appearing fresh, bright with colour except for the knowledge that all these are full of poisons. “The farmers themselves acknowledge that the food they feed their children is full of chemicals,” added Sustainable Agriculture Co-ordinator, M Nimal Kumaratunga of the Green Movement of Sri Lanka.

The fields are constantly sprayed with a variety of pesticides which eventually leak in to the surrounding lakes and streams, “there are many cases of kidney failure and other diseases due to toxins in the water,” said Bandula Senadeera, Sarvodaya in the farming districts as Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa. Unable to pay loans and the price of fertilizer, which has now become an essential component of farming, escalating they are facing a very bleak future. “Our first organic farm was in Saliyapura in Anuradhapura,” began Mr. Senadeera continuing that the ample amounts of hay and cow dung available was going to waste or sent to Vavuniya while the farmers here used synthetic fertilizer on their farms. “The farmers from the northern sectors don’t use synthetic fertilizer,” he said.

The project started on Sarvodaya land fortunately located within the farming community on a very small scale using all natural products. “Hay, Giniseeliya (Sapium rigidus), cow dung fertilize is readily available in these areas and using these we slowly showed the farmers a good yield can be obtained and at a very low cost,” he explained. Of course this is as yet done on a very small scale and the Sarvodaya has introduced organic farming for home gardens. To take maximum use of natural factors as sunlight they have considered the stratification of plant communities and grown thibbatu as a ground layer, banana as a under story layer and coconut, jak or butter fruit as an emergent layer. “This reduces the competition for light, natural fertilizer applied provides all the necessary nutrition,” this form of farming also encourages the growth of symbiotic micro-organisms that are naturally present and help the plants obtain nitrogen, vitamins and minerals from the soil and atmosphere.

“Today’s practice of using chemicals and the latest oils (thel beheth) destroy these organisms, the micro-organisms, worms even the beneficial insects that help the farmer,” said Mr. Kumaratunga expressing that our ancestors with a complete knowledge of this relationship between the animal world and human had farming practices that encouraged their growth. It is the loss of these symbiotic organisms that stand as the primary reason for the infertility of our soil he expressed.

“We don’t have funds to give the farmers to promote this type of farming,” said Mr. Senadeera and so with the help of voluntary workers the practice has been spread among home gardens to grow mango, coconut, various vegetables and such. “We have traveled to such places as Thanamalvila and Matale where this practice has been taken up with interest,” soon awareness programmes will be conducted in schools to promote the advantages of organic farming he informed. Mr. Kumaratunga through the Green Movement is approaching women and children to promote home gardens.

“The techniques used are not the latest farming practices introduced with the advancement of science but the traditional techniques and agricultural knowledge that has pasted down to us,” he said using a forest as an example to explain that synthetic fertilizers and pesticides are not required to get a good yield. “No one adds fertilizer to a forest floor but the soil is healthy. Synthetic products kill this natural recycling property of the soil, the texture changes with more and more of the nutrients being washed away,” explained Mr. Senadeera. “Eventually the yield reduces and the quality of the product drops.”

To introduce organic farming in a big scale, large amounts of the natural fertilizer and funds are needed which Sarvodaya is in no position to acquire. Home gardens however are in their capacity. The Green Movement has gone a step further and is promoting storage of the fruits and vegetables so grown. “The yield is packed directly from the field in to the lorry bound for the market,” said Mr. Kumaratunga, and except for some rice the ones at home don’t even see the product. “The farmer has been reduced to depend on the shop-keeper.”

Working closely with the farming community the Sarvodaya utilizes the practical knowledge of the farmer which academics lack. “This knowledge is so vast and by asking them to help we make them part of what we are doing,” said Mr. Senadeera building a connection between the commercial farmer and the person who feeds us all. 90% of the home gardens established by the Green Movement are successful informed Mr. Kumaratunga, but it is slow work. They have so far approached 14 districts in which a small village is chosen based on climatic conditions explained Mr. Kumaratunga. “Our aim is to up lift health and nutrition of a family,” and they focus on women, children, environmentalists and the farmers.

“We have not yet submitted a proposal to the government or asked for assistance,” said Mr. Senadeera but the authorities have not yet taken an initiative either. “We have opened the doors for international students who want practical experience and those completing research to come here,” there is an exchange of knowledge and practices between the local and foreign participants through which much is learnt.

“So far it is just the Sarvodaya, the universities and the farmers that are involved in this project,” said Mr. Senadeera eager for government assistance in the future. The Green Movement on the other hand has submitted a few ideas that had room to grow but Mr. Kumaratunga informs that the authorities had changed these to suit the shop keeper and not the farmer before implementing.

“At the beginning the farmers were not at all co-oporative but with time they have come to see the benefits of organic farming,” the first two to three years was a lone struggle for Sarvodaya, but slowly even the farmers managing large farms came home in the evening to tend his organic home garden. “Talking about it is not practically feasible but you have to show them what it is all about,” advised Mr. Senadeera. The society and farmers must be convinced. So far they have been successful in 54 home gardens and have gathered a vast knowledge where synthetic chemicals play no role. “After visiting three farms we found that kohila grows well in places not supplied with ample water,” he gave an example; such facts would not be known if not for the small investigations.

“It is not an easy thing to promote,” agreed Mr. Kumaratunga, who for the past twenty odd years has been working with the farmers. There is no point trying to promote agricultural practices of the western countries in a humid tropical country he said but instead embrace the practices of our ancestors which have for centuries succeeded in producing a large, nutritious yield. He also blames the rise of disease on the present condition of our food, “there is not a house in a village that doesn’t suffer from the ‘Colombo 7 diseases’,” referring to diabetes, pressure and heart disease.

There are several misconceptions about organic farming, “many think that using compost is organic farming, others still spray the food products,” explained Mr. Kumaratunga which just makes the public mistrust the organic food label that is meant to be more nutritious and healthy. “This method has been coming since the 80’s but is yet not a success because each one tries to invent his own system of growing organic food,” he said, in the end they are all stranded for the practice soon fails and the farmer goes back to using chemicals. Comparing today’s man to the broiler chicken and our ancestors to the village hen (gam kukula) Mr. Kumaratunga airs his concern about the future populations that will have to survive with a dead soil, polluted air and toxic waters.

(http://www.dailymirror.lk/2007/07/14/feat/01.asp)

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  • My name is Phoenix Project
  • From Colombo, Western, Sri Lanka
  • This blog concerns the Sri Lankans fight against LTTE terrorism.LTTE is a ruthless terror outfit which fights for an ethnically pure, separate Tamil homeland for Tamils living in Sri Lanka since 1983. The outfit is well known for its extreme tribalism and nefarious crimes against soft targets specially the women and children. During its two and half decade long terrorist war against Sri Lankan people, LTTE has killed over 70,000 people mostly civilians in its ethnic cleansing raids, indiscriminate bomb attacks, suicide blasts, etc. LTTE is also in top of the UN's list of shame for using child soldiers in war. As a tactical measure the outfit uses only young female cadres and male child soldiers for the front lines.

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