Sri Lanka’s Plastic Pollution Crisis

Tackling Plastic Waste in Sri Lanka

Plastic has become an integral part of modern life, but its environmental impact is now a growing concern. In Sri Lanka, the scale of plastic waste generation and mismanagement presents a significant challenge. The country imports 500,000 metric tons of virgin plastic annually, generating 10,768 tonnes of municipal plastic waste per day, of which only a fraction is collected. Shockingly, 89% of plastic waste remains unmanaged, with 47.7% openly burned – posing serious risks to the environment and public health.

Sri Lanka’s contribution to marine pollution is equally concerning, with the country ranking 5th among the top 20 plastic waste polluters of the world’s oceans in 2015. Coastal communities alone generate 0.24-0.64 million metric tons of plastic debris annually, with one of the highest global waste generation rates of 5.1 kg per person per day.

This infographic, based on data from the National Plastic Waste Inventory for Sri Lanka (2024), Central Environmental Authority (CEA 2019), and global studies (Jambeck et al., 2015; Jayasinghe et al., 2023), highlights the urgency of adopting a more sustainable approach to plastic waste management. By prioritising the waste hierarchy – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – Sri Lanka can move towards a cleaner, greener future.