Final IEE - Ocean Plastics Activity.pdf

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US Agency for International Development (USAID) Sri Lanka & Maldives

Ocean Plastic Reduction Program (Ocean Plastics) Initial Environmental Examination (IEE)

Program/Project/Activity Data

Activity/Project Name: Oceans Plastics Reduction Program (Ocean Plastics)

Assistance Objective/s:

Development Objectives 2 and 3 for Sri Lanka CDCS:

a. Private Sector-Led Growth Promoted DO 2.2

b. Human Capital Development Advanced DO 2.3

c. Environmental and Climate Resilience Enhanced DO 3.1

Mission Objective 2.2 of Maldives Integrated Country Strategy (ICS): Improved Maldives natural resource management to promote long term sustainable development and economic growth

Program Area: Environment - 10.1 Clean Productive Environment

Country: Sri Lanka and Maldives

Originating Office: Economic Growth Office Date: 12/1/2021

PAD Level IEE: Yes No

Supplemental IEE: Yes No

RCE/IEE Amendment: Yes No

DCN of Original

RCE/IEE: N/A

DCN of Amendment(s): N/A

If Yes, Purpose of Amendment (AMD): N/A

DCN(s) of All Related

EA/IEE/RCE/ER(s): Asia 20-042 COVID PIEE

Implementation Start/End:

September 2022 -

LOP: 5 years

Funding Amount:

LOP Amount:

AMD Amount: N/A

Contract/Award Number (if known): N/A

IEE Expiration Date (if any):

Reporting due dates (if any):

Quarterly / Annually

Recommended Environmental Determination:

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Asia 22-008

X Categorical Exclusion: X Positive Determination:

X Negative Determination with

Conditions Deferral:

Additional Elements:

Conditions: Local Procurement:

Government to Government: Donor Co-Funded:

Sustainability Analysis (included):

Climate Change Vulnerability Analysis (included):

Adaptation/Mitigation Measures: Project technical assistance activities are of moderate per the 2021- 2025 climate risk analysis. Climate risk screening of all objectives are required regardless of the threshold determination under each objective1. COR to share strategic climate risk analysis 2021-2025 with IP post award and ensure appropriate screening at activity level. See Annex 2 for climate risk screening format.

1. Background and Project Description

1.1. Purpose and Scope of IEE

The purpose of this document, in accordance with Title 22, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 216 (22CFR216), is to provide a preliminary review of the reasonably foreseeable effects on the environment of the USAID/Sri Lanka and Maldives Mission’s Ocean Plastics Reduction Program (Ocean Plastics) described herein and recommend determinations and, as appropriate, conditions, for these activities. Upon approval, these determinations become affirmed, per 22CFR216 and specified conditions become mandatory obligations of implementation. This IEE also documents the Climate Risk Management requirements in accordance with USAID policy (specifically, ADS 201mal). This IEE is a critical element of USAID’s mandatory environmental review and compliance process meant to achieve environmentally sound activity design and implementation. Potential environmental impacts should be addressed through formal environmental mitigation and monitoring plans (EMMPs) and/or Environmental Assessments (EAs), if needed.

1.2 Project Overview

Ocean plastic pollution has reached a crisis level, threatening the world’s delicate marine ecosystems, major industries such as fishing and tourism, food security, and ultimately human health. Every minute, the equivalent of an entire garbage truck of plastic makes its way into the world’s oceans—roughly eleven million tons annually.

1 The current Sri Lanka Climate Risk Profile:

https://www.climatelinks.org/sites/default/files/asset/document/Sri%20Lanka_CRP_Final.pdf and the current Sri Lanka Tropical Forest and Biodiversity Analysis (2016 FAA 118/119): https://www.usaidgems.org/Documents/FAA&Regs/FAA118119Asia/Sri%20Lanka%20FAA%20118- 119%20Analysis%20March%202016.pdf The current CDCS: https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1861/CDCS_Sri_Lanka_December_2019.pdf Global Climate Risk 2019:

https://www.germanwatch.org/sites/germanwatch.org/files/Global%20Climate%20Risk%20Index%202019_2.pdf

As an island nation, Sri Lanka faces unique challenges in managing its waste. The country’s solid waste management (SWM) systems struggle to keep pace with growing urban populations as system funding, organization, and local government resources remain static. It is estimated that in Sri Lanka only:

20% of households have access to public waste collection services;

47% burn their waste;

23% dispose of waste in their communities or natural environments; and 8% practice backyard composting for organic waste.

The Maldives, an archipelago of 1,200 coral islands, faces a unique set of challenges in managing a rapidly growing volume of waste. Given its dispersed geography and a host of other unique challenges such as extremely limited amounts of land to store waste, the country has been overwhelmed by managing not only its domestic waste, but also the marine debris generated by other countries that is carried in by ocean currents.

Stopping plastic pollution at the source is the most effective way to address this challenge. The majority of plastic ocean debris comes from rapidly growing cities and towns along rivers and coastal areas in the developing world — where waste management systems, infrastructure, and governments struggle to keep pace with growing populations and increasing amounts of waste.

Per the 2020 Save our Seas 2.0 Act, USAID will prioritize efforts to reduce plastic waste by improving the capacity of and encouraging private sector investment in solid waste management systems and strengthening policies and incentives to shape behaviors for the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, and recycle). USAID is leveraging its extensive networks, expertise, and global experience for a collaborative, cross-sectoral approach in working with cities and local governments to promote locally led solutions and women’s economic empowerment and engage the private sector in addressing the plastic waste challenge and promoting a circular economy.

There is a significant interest in the sector with donor efforts in both countries ranging from national policy level discussions, engagement with local councils on waste collection and segregation practices to community-based awareness programs. Some on-going donor efforts have been listed as a part of the Sri Lanka National Action Plan on Plastic Waste Management 2021 - 2030. In addition to the USAID activities, a few of those listed are the:

Plastic Free Rivers and Seas for South Asia, is a $50 million joint effort between the World Bank, Parley for the Oceans and South Asia Cooperative Environment Program (SACEP) to reduce marine plastic pollution and promote eco-innovations to reinvent plastic use2

Japan funded CounterMEASURE project, by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) uses methods such as machine learning and GIS mapping and is active in India (Ganges river), Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, Viet Nam (Mekong river) and Sri Lanka3

EU’s Switch-Asia project, Prevention of Marine Litter In The Lakshadweep Sea, which works in India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, an approx. $5 million

2 https://www.worldbank.org/en/region/sar/brief/plastic-free-rivers-and-seas-for-south-asia 3https://countermeasure.asia/unep-and-government-of-sri-lanka-announce-a-new-collaboration-to-fight-plastic-pollution-in-rivers/ grant to promote reduction of marine litter in tourism clusters along the Lakshadweep shorelines4

GIZ project for a public private partnership to develop a Material recovery plant, and to improve waste collection and segregation.

The Asia Foundation on establishing Sustainable PET Plastic Recycling in Sri Lanka with support from the CocaCola Foundation, Coca-Cola Beverages Sri Lanka Ltd., Environment Foundation Limited (EFL), and Eco Spindles (Pvt) Ltd5

DFID support for plastic waste management

Smaller localized initiatives have also been undertaken in the recent years, such as the:

UN-HABITAT global Waste Wise Cities program6 UNOPS is implementing solid waste management programs, including establishing a waste collection tracking system for local authorities in the Batticaloa district7

Ongoing donor funded projects targeting prevention, and reduction of plastics in the Maldives includes:

Plastic Free Rivers and Seas for South Asia, is a $50 million joint effort between the World Bank, Parley for the Oceans and South Asia Cooperative Environment Program (SACEP) to reduce marine plastic pollution and promote eco-innovations to reinvent plastic use.

EU’s SWITCH-Asia project, Prevention of Marine Litter In The Lakshadweep Sea, which works in India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, an approx. $5 million grant to promote reduction of marine litter in tourism clusters along the Lakshadweep shorelines.

Developing an EPR Scheme for Plastic and Packaging in the Maldives, is a project funded by the UNDP via the Ocean Innovation Challenge (grant amount $ 233, 725) focused on designing an EPR scheme, and enabling it to be transposed into national law. 8

Advancing Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) Policy in the Tourism Sector for Responsible Plastics Management in the Maldives is a EU SWITCH-Asia funded project to develop sustainable waste management policies and tools for minimizing and preventing single use plastics and improving circularity in the tourism sector.

From initial discussions, it is evident there is a clear consensus amongst donors on the requirement to coordinate efforts to ensure no duplication of donor work within the waste management sector.

Further, it will be important to build synergies between the varying programs to ensure long term sustainability of the activities beyond the program lifetime.

1.3 Project Description

4 https://www.switch-asia.eu/project/promise/ 5https://asiafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Establishing-Sustainable-PET-Plastic-Recycling-in-Sri- Lanka_2020.pdf 6 https://unhabitat.org/waste-wise-cities 7 https://www.unops.org/news-and-stories/stories/cleaning-up-for-good 8 https://oceaninnovationchallenge.org/ocean-innovations/developing-epr-scheme-plastic-and-packaging-waste-maldives

The overall purpose of this Activity will be to support improved solid waste management practices, with an emphasis on reduction of Ocean Plastics Pollution in Sri Lanka and Maldives. The Activity will work to fulfill this purpose through four complementary objectives:

(1) Reduce reliance on virgin plastic inputs and products by

(1a) Promoting product and process alternatives to reduce plastic inputs and

(1b) Reducing plastic use through support of extended producer responsibility (EPR), polluter pay principles and other approaches;

Both Sri Lanka and the Maldives plastics policy priorities are founded on the 3Rs of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Reducing the importation and use of virgin plastics and plastic products is the first, and most important step towards reducing ocean plastics. Reducing reliance on virgin plastics requires a comprehensive analysis of supply chains, regulatory environment, and identification of context specific opportunities and constraints.

Offerors/applicants will be required to present their proposed approach, opportunities to reduce plastic importation and illustrative Activity results

Expected results

Decreased amount of single use plastics imported into the country Increased adoption of 3R behaviors (reduce, reuse and recycle) at household, community and private sector levels

(2) Professionalize, improve and expand solid waste management, with a focus on reducing plastics available to the environment by

(2a) Improving collection, transport, segregation, recycling, and disposal service delivery, including professionalization of informal actors and

(2b) Increasing efficiency and effectiveness of public fund utilization and access to private funds for solid waste management;

Waste management levels of service vary throughout Sri Lanka and the Maldives relying heavily on local, and frequently informal actors for the collection, transport, segregation, recycling, and ultimately disposal of solid waste. USAID seeks to build off of current service delivery models, expanding access to and professionalizing waste management service delivery:

Enhance access, service reliability, and management, with a focus on urban and coastal communities. USAID will explore development of business models, supply chains, and technologies aimed at increasing the quality and availability of services, improving efficiencies, and generating greater cost recovery.

Solid waste collection represents a substantial portion of many local governments’ budgets.

USAID will seek to increase public and private funds availability through a range of planning, advocacy, and efficiency interventions. USAID will also catalyze additional funding from multilateral agencies, foundations, and impact investors.

Expected results

Decreased volume of solid waste available to the environment

Improved access to reliable and sustainable waste management services

(3) Empower communities to drive local waste management solutions by

(3a) Increasing community ownership of solid waste management service decisions, delivery, and oversight and

(3b) Supporting social and behavior changes related to solid waste management

The most indispensable people to improving waste management are oftentimes the least represented in decision making. Informal sector workers are the foundation of the waste management pyramid, yet they struggle to obtain legal and economic support to ensure safe working conditions. Women have fewer opportunities for jobs in the formal sector or higher up in the recycling value chain and are vulnerable to gender-based violence. A city’s ability to create a more circular economy is a function of how members of the solid waste management value chain are included. One way to increase recovery and recycling rates is to improve the welfare and livelihoods of independent waste collectors and to support women-owned recycling businesses. USAID seeks to move beyond community consultation towards community empowerment, resulting in community level and community led solid waste management initiatives, businesses and services. Communities will be empowered to work with local governments to identify opportunities to reduce, reuse and recycle plastics, as well as design and implement effective containment, collection, segregation, and recycling approaches.

Offerors/applicants will be required to present their proposed approach, opportunities to reduce plastic importation and illustrative Activity results.

Expected results

Amount of waste reduced within the community Increased management practices that support the 3R principles

(4) Strengthen the enabling environment for solid waste management with an emphasis on reducing ocean plastics by

(4a) strengthening central and local government efforts to plan, budget for, finance and regulate solid waste management, (4b) Improving solid waste data, availability, use, and management, with a particular focus on plastics, and

(4c) Increasing capacity to prevent and/or respond to solid waste related impacts of disasters.

USAID recognizes that the success of these objectives is predicated on improvements in the broader enabling environment for solid waste management, particularly plastics, in Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Specifically, USAID seeks to strengthen the enabling environment by:

Supporting implementation of government policies. Both Sri Lanka and the Maldives have strong governmental policies that govern solid waste management approaches, particularly as they relate to plastics. USAID seeks to work with local, regional and national governmental bodies to support implementation of existing, relevant, policy priorities.

Improving solid waste management data availability and use and management. Reliable and accurate information systems are needed to both track key performance indicators (KPIs) and provide information on the amount of plastics imported into the country, as well as collection, reuse, recycling disposal and leakage into the environment. Priority will be given to strengthening and working within existing systems, rather than the development and deployment of new systems. In all cases, long-term (post-Activity) management of data systems must be assured through partnership with local public and private entities.

Disasters ranging from COVID 19, to the MV X-Press Pearl fire, to the 2004 tsunami generated excess solid waste and disrupted existing solid waste management systems.

USAID seeks to increase capacity to prevent and/or respond to solid waste related impacts of disasters.

Expected results

Enhanced implementation of governmental solid waste management policies Improved data availability and use for decision-making and management Increased capacity to prevent and/or respond to solid waste related impacts of disasters

This program contributes to the objectives of the U.S. State Department’s Maldives Integrated Country Strategy9. In addition, activities under the expected program are intended to support the USAID’s strategic approach to advance the U.S. Government’s Indo-Pacific Vision. Specifically, the program will contribute to the strategic pillar on the improved management of natural resources by supporting environmental safeguards and adoption of environmental standards.

The Ocean Plastics Activity will support USAID Sri Lanka & Maldives Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) development objectives (DO) 2.2 private sector-led growth promoted;

DO 2.3 Human Capital Development Advanced; and 3.1 Environmental and Climate Resilience Enhanced.

The implementation of the USAID/Sri Lanka & Maldives Ocean Plastics Reduction Program Activity will be closely coordinated with the Governments of Maldives and Sri Lanka, other USG-funded activities, and other donor-led initiatives designed to manage solid waste and reduce ocean plastics. These include, but are not limited to USAID/Sri Lanka and Maldives’ Climate Change Adaptation Activity, REGENERATE, Public Financial Management Maldives, Private Sector Development, PARTNER, and USAID/Global Clean Cities/Blue Ocean activities, US State Department-funded activities, and activities funded by the World Bank, multiple UN-funded and/or implemented activities, and the Japan International Cooperation Agency. This activity will also build on the accomplishments of and lessons learned from the USAID/Global Municipal Waste Recycling Program (https://urban-links.org/project/municipal-waste-recycling-program-mwrp/#Sri%20Lanka).

Sri Lanka background

Situated in the Indian Ocean with a land area of 65,610 sq km and a population of approximately 22 million people, the island nation of Sri Lanka has seen a unique set of challenges when dealing with the issue of waste management. Roughly 50 percent of inhabitants live in coastal areas on the West, South-west, and Southern coasts of the island. The commercial capital of Colombo has the highest population density with 21,000 inhabitants per km2. Sri Lanka has made great strides in the last 20 years to increase incomes and reduce poverty, now meeting most Millennium Development Goals.

With a rapidly growing population and increasing urbanization, Sri Lanka must address concerns

9 https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/ICS-Maldives_UNCLASS-508.pdf related to waste management in the country. It is estimated approximately 7000 MT of waste is generated per day in Sri Lanka. A garbage dump collapse in 2017 and a marine incident in 2021 have both refocused efforts and seen renewed interest towards waste and more specifically plastics waste management in Sri Lanka.

Organic materials make up 54.9%10 of the waste composition in Sri Lanka. Plastics make up 12.4% and paper & paper boards total 12.1%. In 2013, 3500 MT11 were collected per day and this is only a fraction of the total municipal solid waste. Whilst urban rates are significantly higher, as a country-wide average, only 20%12 of households have access to waste collection services, 47% burn their waste, 23% dispose of waste in communities and natural environments and 8% practice backyard composting. It is estimated that Colombo generates 10% of the total waste, contributing approximately 2.5% of the total population.

The waste collection network in Sri Lanka is primarily driven by the informal waste collection sector. However, little emphasis is placed on the health and safety aspects and waste collectors continue to be an underrepresented yet essential role. The recycling efforts in Sri Lanka are dependent on these informal collectors, formal collectors and local authorities. However, with no uniform level of segregation and varying collection frequencies, there is currently a very low level of recycling in Sri Lanka, which is expected to have further reduced in the last two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Key waste management issues raised by key stakeholders and highlighted in policies include:

lack of available sites for dumping lack of financial assistance local political conflicts limited collection system lack of waste stream segregation lack of public awareness, engagement, and ownership of solid waste management lack of enabling technology

Sri Lanka has seen a rapid increase in plastics production and importation. The government has promoted a “polluter pays” concept, which will ideally ensure the polluter pays for the “costs of pollution prevention and control measures.” There is also an additional cess levy added on to plastics being imported into Sri Lanka.

As of 2020, approximately 938 MT/day13 of plastic waste is generated. Waste was disposed of as follows:

419 MT/day openly burnt on individual premises, 262 MT/day disposed of in open dumps, 140 MT/day self-disposed at individual premises, 70 MT/day illegally dumped, 38 MT/day were recycled, 10https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341830497_Waste_Management_in_Sri_Lanka_Challenges_and_Opportunities 11 Solid Waste Management Report 2007 12 USAID CCBO Initial Solid Waste Management Assessment - Sri Lanka & Maldives 13 USAID CCBO Private sector landscape analysis - Sri Lanka

8 MT/day disposed of to water sources

There are now some private sector initiatives to manage the plastics recovery processes. However, the recycling and upscaling efforts are hampered by poor segregation of waste, and the cost of sorting and cleaning waste. There are numerous small and medium enterprises carrying out recycling activities, but they have difficulty reaching financial viability at scale.

The topic of waste management and waste disposal practices was heavily scrutinized when on April 14, 2017 the Meethotamulla garbage dump landslide destroyed neighboring houses, caused 32 deaths, with 8 more missing, and affected a total of 1,765 people.

The issue of microplastics disposal and ocean pollution received attention when in May 2021, the X- Press Pearl container ship sank off the coast of Colombo. In its cargo, the ship was transporting over 75T of nurdles (polyethylene pellets for plastic bags), tons of which have since washed ashore and been spotted along the Western coast of Sri Lanka. In addition the oil and chemical spill created an environmental disaster in the area.

Maldives background

The Maldives is an archipelago of 26 low-lying coral atolls in the Indian ocean. The country consists of a total of 1190 small tropical islands out of which only 358 are used for economic activities and human settlement. More than 80% of the Maldives’ land area is less than 1 meter above sea level.

The driving force of the Maldives’ economy is tourism, which contributes about one third of the gross domestic product (GDP) and is also the fastest growing economic sector within the country.

The second largest economic sector is fisheries, which contributes to around 7% of the nation’s GDP and provides direct or indirect income to more than 20% of the population. Both fisheries and a vast portion of the tourism industry’s infrastructure are primarily located in regions that are within 100m of the coastline, which makes the Maldivian economy particularly sensitive to sea level rise and coastal storms. The archipelago is becoming increasingly vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

Human activities causing damage to the country's coral reef systems exacerbate these effects leading to reduced fish populations, beach erosion and saltwater intrusion into freshwater tables.

The Maldives faces a unique set of challenges in managing a rapidly growing volume of waste.

Given its dispersed geography and a host of other unique challenges such as extremely limited amounts of land to store waste, the country has been overwhelmed by managing not only its domestic waste, but also the marine debris generated by other countries that is carried to its shores by ocean currents. Population growth, changing consumption patterns, rapid tourism development, and the lack of waste management infrastructure has exacerbated the issue. Although there is limited data on the total quantity of waste generated in the country, waste generation is estimated at 170, 000 T of waste per year14. The per capita waste generated per day is estimated at 1.7kg in the Male’ region, 0.8kg in the outer islands, and 3.5kg in the tourist resorts. Of this, biodegradable waste constitutes as the largest proportion of the total waste that is generated. Greenhouse gas emissions from waste accounted for 5% of the total emissions in 2015.

The main method of waste management is uncontrolled open burning. However, composting, and small-scale incineration is practiced in some islands. Although household segregation is generally not practiced in the Maldives, there are plans to begin household segregation in Male region from

14 Biannual Update Report (BUR) 2020

2022. A survey of 79 islands carried out by the Ministry of Environment in 2015 showed that only few islands practice waste segregation (25% islands) at household level. Partial segregation is practiced in 5% of islands, where segregation is usually limited to combustible and non-combustible waste. The bulk of the waste generated in the Male region is transported by boat daily as mixed and untreated waste to Thilafushi, an island close to Male. Recycling is not common in the Maldives, particularly due to the lack of sufficient financial and technical capacity in the islands. Participation of the private sector is challenging in the short to medium term because of minimal economies of scale benefits and the lack of finance and management capacity.

Currently, the Maldives lacks:

mechanisms for the segregation and separate collection of waste and plastics;

a systematic collection mechanism to extract single use and recyclable plastic waste from the general waste stream; and technical infrastructure for pre-sorting, sorting and recycling

2. Baseline Environmental, Climate and Socio-economic Information

2.1. Locations Affected and Environmental Context

The mission’s Tropical Forest and Biodiversity analysis, and the Climate Resilience analysis for 2020-2025 performed at the CDCS and sector level informs this activity on environment and climate impact for Sri Lanka. It is anticipated that activities in both countries will have a nation-wide coverage, and 70% of the budget will involve activities that will have little or no negative environmental impact and/or will have a positive environmental impact. These activities will mainly focus on technical assistance to strengthen policies, systems and procedures of the public and private sectors in both countries to strengthen efforts to reduce ocean plastics pollution. It is anticipated that about 30% of the budget will involve activities that may require some mitigation measures to minimize environmental impact as these activities would support specific measures engaging the public sector, private sector and local communities of both countries to test and scale up innovative ways to reduce reliance on plastics as well as improve solid waste management systems.

2.2. Description of Applicable USG and Host Country Environmental and Natural Resource

Legal Requirements Policies, Laws, and Regulations An updated Tropical Forest and Biodiversity Analysis (FAA 118/119) was prepared and finalized for Sri Lanka in November 2020, as part of the Mission’s CDCS programming for 2020-2025. This analysis outlines the environmental and natural resource legal requirements, policies, laws and regulations of the country as well as opportunities for taking into environmental considerations during programming. For Maldives, a summary of the environmental and natural resource legal requirements, policies, laws and regulations is provided under section 3.

2.3. Country/Ministry/Municipality Environmental Capacity Analysis A summary of environmental capacity analysis at the country/ministry/municipality level for both Sri Lanka and Maldives is provided under section 3.

2.4 Climate Change Vulnerability Analysis + Eco-systems services Climate risk is moderate in accordance with the CRM for the 2021-2025 CDCS and the IP will be required to conduct screening at the activity level, following the format provided in Annex 2. The IP shall review locations where adaptation activities will be implemented to ensure that facilities are adequate and they are not in areas/zones which may be affected by floods, extreme weather conditions, sea level rise, etc. The activity level climate risk analysis will be performed once the geographic areas for implementation in both countries are determined and adaptation/mitigation measures will be included in the screening matrix and EMMP as appropriate.

3. Regulatory and Organizational Framework

Sri Lanka Sri Lankan Environmental Management Policy originates from the Constitution. There are two major provisions in the Sri Lankan Constitution related to the environment: Article 27 which makes ironment for the benefit of the nature and conserve its riches. The Constitution also enshrines the general right to information.

Local authorities - 24 Municipal councils (Municipal Council Ordinance) , 41 Urban councils (Urban Council Ordinance) and 276 Local councils (Pradeshiya Sabha Act No 15 of 1987), have been given the mandate for waste collection and disposal. In addition to the local authorities, there are a number of central and provincial level institutions such as the Ministry of Environment, State Ministry of Provincial Councils and Local Government Affairs, State Ministry of Urban Development, Waste Disposal, and Community Cleanliness, Central Environmental Authority and Western Province Waste Management Authority that oversee the area of waste management.

There have been numerous efforts to improve waste management service delivery in the country.

The “Pilisaru project” was launched by the Central Environmental Authority with the aim of a waste free Sri Lanka by 2018. Further, the National Environmental (Municipal Solid Waste) Regulations, No. 1 of 2009 specifies the general rules on solid waste management (SWM) discharge and collection of waste including prohibition of waste dumping at national highways and at any place other than places designated for such purpose by the local authorities. In recent years, Sri Lanka has seen Gazettes/directives prohibiting the use of polythene and sachets for FMCG items such as shampoos.

The first National Environmental Act No. 47 of 1980 and its subsequent amendments, have addressed and promoted a series of waste management practices. The Ministry of Environment also led the development of the National Strategy on Waste Management in 2000; National Policy on Solid Waste Management in 2007.

From this policy framework, the National Action Plan on Plastic Waste Management 2021 - 2030 was developed to promote the 3R concept (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle). This proactive and preventive approach stems from the policy statement of “Vistas of Prosperity.” The Action Plan sets out sixteen goals to be achieved during this period, which include pilot implementation of the extended producer responsibility (EPR) concept, inventory, and monitoring mechanism for all entries and exits of plastics in the country. The action plan also promotes targets such as 80% reduction in production and consumption of single use plastics by 2025, increasing plastic waste recycling from 4% to 15% by 2025 and increasing collection and recycling of PET bottle rates from 27% to 100% by 2025.

In Sri Lanka the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was first introduced by the Coast Conservation (Amendment) Act No. 57 of 1981. This applies to projects that come within the "Coastal Zone"15. The "Coastal Zone” includes the area lying within a limit of 300 meters landward of the mean highwater line and a limit of 2 kilometers seawards of the mean low water line. Under the Act, identification of projects that require EIA is left to the discretion of the Director, Coast Conservation Department.

The National Environmental (Amendment) Act No. 56 of 1988 introduced EIA, as a part of the strategy to achieve sustainable development for the entire country and the Central Environmental Authority was assigned regulatory functions. The Central Environmental Authority (CEA) was established on 12th August 1981, under the provision of the National Environmental Act No:47 of 1980. The Ministry of Environment which was established in December 2001 has the overall responsibility in the affairs of the CEA with the objective of integrating environmental considerations into the development process of the country. The CEA was given wider regulatory powers under the National Environment (Amendment) Acts No:56 of 1988 and No:53 of 2000.

Part IV C of the amendment act mandated that all "prescribed" development projects are required to be subjected to an EIA. Only large-scale development projects that are likely to have significant impacts on the environment are listed as prescribed projects. In addition, "prescribed projects" if located in "environmental sensitive areas" are required to undergo EIA irrespective of their magnitude.

The prescribed projects are listed in the gazette No 772/22 of 24th June 1993, 859/14 of 23rd February 1995, 1104/22 of 5th November 1999 and 1108/1 of 29th November 1999.

The National Environmental Act stipulates that approval for all prescribed projects must be granted by a Project Approving Agency (PAA). At present, 23 Government Agencies have been designated as PAAs. A single Project Approving Agency is established as responsible for administrating the EIA process for a project. When there is more than one PAA involved, the appropriate PAA is decided by the CEA. It is important to note that a state agency which is a project proponent cannot function as a PAA for that project. Project Approving Agencies are listed in the Gazette Extra Ordinary No. 859/14 of 23rd February 1995 and Gazette Extra Ordinary ,No. 1373/6 of 29th December 2004.

The National Environmental Act has identified two levels in the EIA process. If the environmental impacts of the project are not very significant then the project proponent may be asked to do an Initial Environmental Examination (IEE), which is a relatively short and simple study. However, if the potential impacts appear to be more significant, the project proponent may be asked to do an EIA which is a more detailed and comprehensive study of environmental impacts.

EIA reports must be kept open for public comments for 30 working days. IEE reports have been exempted from this requirement. However, an Initial Environmental Examination report shall be deemed to be a public document for the purposes of sections 74 and 76 of the Evidence Ordinance (Chapter 21) and shall be open for inspection by the public.

15 http://www.cea.lk/web/en/acts-regulations & https://www.ecolex.org/result/?q=Sri+Lanka&type=legislation&xdate_min=&xdate_max=

EIA provisions are also included in the Fauna and Flora (Amended) Act No. 49 of 1993. According to this Act, any development activity of any description whatsoever proposed to be established within one mile from the boundary of any National Reserve, is required to be subject to EIA, and written approval should be obtained from the Director General, Department of Wild Life Conservation prior to implementation of such projects.

Sri Lanka is a signatory to a myriad of multilateral international agreements related to the waste management sector including the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal (including the Ban Amendment, and the Plastic Waste Amendments), the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, and the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade.

Sri Lanka’s regulations and policies related to climate change can be accessed on https://www.climate-laws.org/legislation_and_policies?from_geography_page=Sri+Lanka&geography%5B%5D=169&ty pe%5B%5D=executive.

Maldives

The 2008 Constitution of Maldives stipulates the following:

Article 22 - Protection of the environment: The State has a fundamental duty to protect and preserve the natural environment, biodiversity, resources and beauty of the country for the benefit of present and future generations. The State shall undertake and promote desirable economic and social goals through ecologically balanced sustainable development and shall take measures necessary to foster conservation, prevent pollution, the extinction of any species and ecological degradation from any such goals.

Article 23 - Economic and social rights: Every citizen the following rights pursuant to this Constitution, and the State undertakes to achieve the progressive realization of these rights by reasonable measures within its ability and resources: (a) adequate and nutritious food and clean water; (b) clothing and housing; (c) good standards of health care, physical and mental; (d) a healthy and ecologically balanced environment; (e) equal access to means of communication, the State media, transportation facilities, and the natural resources of the country; (f) the establishment of a sewage system of a reasonably adequate standard on every inhabited island; (g) the establishment of an electricity system of a reasonably adequate standard on every inhabited island that is commensurate to that island.

Article 67 – Responsibilities and duties: The exercise and enjoyment of fundamental rights and freedoms is inseparable from the performance of responsibilities and duties, and it is the responsibility of every citizen (a) to respect and protect the rights and freedoms of others; (b) to preserve and protect the State religion of Islam, culture, language and heritage of the country; (c) to preserve and protect the natural environment, biodiversity, resources and beauty of the country and to abstain from all forms of pollution and ecological degradation; (d) every person in the Maldives must also respect these duties.

Article 248 - Land, sea and naturally occurring valuable resources: (a) The land, sea, and seabed, including all fish within the territory of the Maldives, and all naturally occurring resources, including metallic ores, petroleum and gas, shall vest in the State. (b) All living, non-living and naturally occurring resources of value within the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Maldives and the seabed shall vest in the State.

The main legislative instrument for the protection of the environment in the Maldives is the Law on the Protection and Preservation of the Environment (EPPA, Law No. 4/93).16 Law No. 4/93 established a framework upon which regulations and policies can be developed to protect and preserve the natural environment and resources for the benefit of future generations. Additionally, an EIA has been made mandatory for large scale projects in the Maldives through the Environmental Protection and Preservation Act (4/93). The legislation provides the basic framework for the EIA process in the country and the EIA procedures are laid out in the form of guidelines.

EPPA Article 2 states that the concerned government authorities shall provide the necessary guidelines and advise on environmental protection in accordance with the prevailing conditions and needs of the country. All concerned parties shall take due considerations of the guidelines provided by the government authorities. Article 4 states that the Ministry of Environment shall be responsible for identifying protected areas and natural reserves and for drawing up the necessary rules and regulations for their protections and preservation. According to Article 5 (a) of the Act, an EIA study shall be submitted to the Ministry of Environment before implementing any development project that may have a potential impact on the environment. As per Article 5 (b), The Ministry of Environment shall formulate the guidelines for EIA and shall determine the projects that need such assessment as mentioned in paragraph (a) of this clause. As per Article 6, the Ministry of Environment has the authority to terminate any project that has any undesirable impact on the environment. A project so terminated shall not receive any compensation. Article 7 states that any type of waste, oil, poisonous gases or any substances that may have harmful effects on the environment shall not be disposed within the territory of the Maldives. In cases where the disposal of the substances becomes absolutely necessary, they shall be disposed only within the areas designated for the purpose by the government. If such waste is to be incinerated, appropriate precautions should be taken to avoid any harm to the health of the population. Article 8 states that Hazardous/Toxic or Nuclear Wastes that is harmful to human health and the environment shall not be disposed anywhere within the territory of the country.

EIA Regulations were issued by the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MEE) on 8 May 2012.

The first step in environmental assessment process involves screening of the project to be classified as one that requires an EIA or not. Based on this decision, the Ministry, EPA and other stakeholders decide the scope of the EIA which is discussed with the proponent and the EIA consultants in a “scoping meeting.” The consultants then undertake the EIA starting with baseline studies, impact prediction and finally reporting the findings with impact mitigation and monitoring program. This report follows the principles and procedures for EIA outlined in the EIA regulations. The EIA report is reviewed by EPA following which an EIA Decision Note is given to the proponent who should implement the Decision Note accordingly. As a condition of approval, appropriate environmental monitoring may be required and the proponent shall have to report monitoring data at required intervals to the EPA. The project proponent is committed to implement all impact mitigation measures that are specified in this EIA report. Furthermore, the proponent is committed to environmental monitoring and shall fulfil environmental monitoring requirements that may be specified in the EIA decision note as a condition for project approval. The processes specified in this

16 http://en.epa.gov.mv/regulations

ESMF for the EIA or EMP preparation is based on the EIA regulations of 2012. Any requirement to carry out civil engineering works, such as construction of channels or harbors would need to comply with the requirements of the EIA Regulations, 2007. The requirement for and the regulations relating to the preparation of EIA’s are set out in the Environment Impact Regulations, 2007 which are enforced under Environment Protection and Preservation Act (Law No. 4/93).

Under this Law: (a) The “environment” means all the living and non-living things that surround and affects the lives of human beings; and (b) A “project” is any activity that is carried out with the purpose of achieving a certain social or economic objective. This regulation has undergone a number of amendments in 2013, 2015 and 2016. These amendments included revision of EIA review period and associated costs, qualification required for monitoring the Environmental Management Plan, revision to the list of projects that requires EIAs, projects that can be undertaken by simply applying mitigation measures defined by EPA such as for dredging of harbors, clearance of vegetation within allocated plots for households and for roads, transferring EIA decision making to Minister of Tourism for tourism related activities; categorization of EIA consultants, point system for consultants to assess performance and license suspension, a code of conduct for consultants, and increment to the fine for non-compliance of regulations and violations.

The Regulation on Environmental Liabilities (Regulation No. 2011/R-9) The objective of this regulation is to prevent actions violating the Environmental Protection and Preservation Act 4/93 and to ensure compensations for all the damages that are caused by activities that are detrimental to the environment. This includes all the activities that are mentioned in clause 7 of EPA Act as well as those activities that take place outside the projects that are identified here as environmentally damaging. The regulation sets mechanisms and standards for different types of environmental liabilities and equal standards that shall be followed by the implementing agency while implementing the regulation. According to this regulation the Government of Maldives reserves the right to claim compensation for all the activities which have breached the Environmental Protection and Preservation Act 4/93.

Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESA) List, 2014. Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESA) are islands with unique features, reef systems, mangroves, wetlands, seagrass beds or places that are vital to the long-term maintenance of biological diversity, beach sediments, soil, water and other natural resources and features, especially as they relate to human health, safety, and welfare, both on the island and in an atoll context. These features are highly valued, both for their scenic beauty and for the habitats they provide for the flora and fauna. The compilation of the list was initiated in 2009 with the assistance of the local Island Offices and other stakeholders. The list has been produced to identify environmentally and economically significant areas to offer protection, safeguard and enhance the conservation of the biological diversity of the country.

Commencing from 1st January 2011, under the Environmental Protection and Preservation Act:

4/93, the sites listed had been identified as Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESAs). This ESA list helps in safeguarding, minimizing and mitigating the environmental impacts from different development projects, by monitoring the development in the area with the involvement of all stakeholders. The areas identified in the ESA are not protected areas. A site/habitat being identified as an ESA does not indicate that sustainable development cannot take place. It encourages development to take place, taking into consideration the conservation of the sensitive area, there 35 by mitigating the negative impacts. It has been noted that ESA cannot be used as a reason for refusing sustainable development applications.

Regulation on Sand and Aggregate and Coral Mining: This regulation addresses sand mining from islands and sand banks. Sand and aggregate mining from beaches of any island whether inhabited or uninhabited is banned for protection of the islands. Permissions for sand and aggregate mining from other areas shall be obtained from the relevant authorities. There is another similar regulation named “Regulation on Coral Mining” (1990), which is only applicable to coral mining from the ‘house reef’ of islands and the atoll rim reefs.

Dewatering Regulation (213/R-1697) This regulation is constituted for the purpose of ensuring that the drainage of water in the islands of the Maldives in the process of dewatering and subsequent dumping of discharge water into the soil or to the sea, is conducted with minimal impact to the environment. Given water is the source of life and one of the essential elements forming the environment, the purpose of this regulation is to avoid contamination of the groundwater table, to mitigate the damage caused to the water table; and to protect the habitat, the environment, the public and all living organisms from the impact of dewatering. This regulation is enacted from the rights vested on the Ministry of Environment from Article 3 of Act 4/93 (Maldives Environment Protection and Preservation Act). This regulation is enforced by the Environment Protection Agency on behalf of the Ministry. In addition to the institutions of the state, it is the responsibility of every individual to protect the groundwater table of the islands of the Maldives and to manage it in a sustainable manner. The process of dewatering for any industrial purpose shall be conducted on any island pursuant to the guidelines prescribed in this regulation and after having obtained permission in writing from the implementing agency or from their delegate.

Waste Management Regulation (WMR) was published in August 2013 and is effective from February 2014. It has been implemented by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).