machines/howtos/collecting-plastic-in-arugam-bay-sri-lanka

title	slug	description	tags	category	difficulty	time	keywords	location
Collecting plastic in Arugam Bay, Sri Lanka	collecting-plastic-in-arugam-bay-sri-lanka	This outlines the creation of an intervention in a popular tourist destination. With tourism-related waste impacting local waste collection, establishing improved waste management systems is essential.	research collection sorting	Guides	Hard	1+ months	Tourism waste management, Arugam Bay recycling, PET bottle collection, plastic waste reduction, environmentally friendly initiatives, community involvement Sri Lanka, sustainable tourism practices, USAID supported projects, polyethylene product creation, beach cleanup activities	Pottuvil, Sri Lanka

Collecting plastic in Arugam Bay, Sri Lanka

This outlines the creation of an intervention in a popular tourist destination. With tourism-related waste impacting local waste collection, establishing improved waste management systems is essential.

User Location: Pottuvil, Sri Lanka

Steps

Step 1: Arugam Bay

Located in Arugam Bay, a small town of approximately 150 residents on the east coast of Sri Lanka, the local economy primarily relies on tourism and seasonal fishing. However, the area faces challenges with waste management. During the tourist season, the waste management resources are heavily utilized by tourism-related businesses, leading more locals to dispose of their plastic waste through burning. Additionally, businesses often incinerate large quantities of plastic bottles, as tourists consume these in significant amounts.

Step 2: What is Wasteless Arugam Bay (WLAB)

We initiated WLAB in 2018 after obtaining partial financing through a USAID grant. We provide resource management, plastic collection, and educational programs in schools, and we convert plastic waste into products. In total, we consist of three full-time employees.

Step 3: Our strategy

Our approach involves primarily gathering clean PET bottles from local residents and businesses. These collected PET bottles are then sold back to industry, while we retain the PE caps for our own production processes. Occasionally, we also participate in and assist with beach cleanups.

Step 4: Our space

Our workspace is centrally located in Arugam Bay and comprises two shipping containers, each 20 feet (6.1 meters) in length. It enjoys convenient access to the main road, frequented by tourists engaging in leisure activities such as dining and surfing. This location provides excellent visibility for educational opportunities on various topics.

Step 5: Focus on tourists

The emphasis is on collecting plastic from the tourism industry, which generates a significant quantity of PET bottles. These bottles are in demand to be transformed into recycled polyester yarn. Furthermore, handling these bottles is manageable since they are typically clean. This initiative addresses the issue of PET bottles overwhelming waste management systems.

Step 6: Provide alternatives

Our water refill system is public, and anyone may refill for free. Ultimately, we aim to reduce the accumulation of all these bottles. A tourist destination devoid of plastic bottles would be preferable to one with extensive collections of PET bottles.

Step 7: Bins

We have distributed more than 60 bins throughout the town to hotels, restaurants, resorts, mosques, and shops. Initially provided free of charge, we have since considered requiring a deposit. A well-executed paint job enhances the message. Our bins feature a prominent sticker specifying the types of plastic collected and encourages individuals to seek alternatives.

Step 8: Benefits for partners

As awareness of plastic waste grows among tourists and hotels, it becomes essential for businesses to appear proactive. Consequently, convincing business owners to adopt our bins is relatively straightforward. However, it is important to have credible staff members approach these businesses, fostering trust in our intention to achieve positive outcomes.

Step 9: Transport

To collect and transport resources, we sought an engaging and visually appealing mode of transport. We enhanced a traditional tuk tuk with striking illustrations by a local artist.

Step 10: Daily collection

Every week, we take our tuk tuk to gather plastic from various locations. During peak season, we drive and collect daily as the volume increases significantly with the arrival of tourists.

Step 11: Volumes

We collect approximately 1.1 tons (1 metric ton) monthly, which is only a part of what remains available for collection. Gathering materials from the local community proves particularly challenging. It is feasible to amass over 4.4 tons (4 metric tons) of PET alone each month. However, the cost of collection is high while the market price for PET is low.

Step 12: Sorting

Upon arrival at our workspace, we allocate significant time to separate the bottle caps from the PET bottles, organizing them into the correct bags and containers. This task is performed by our staff, occasionally with assistance from visitors.

Step 13: Baling

To optimize transport efficiency, we compact our PET bottles into bales. Each bale comprises 700 to 800 bottles and weighs approximately 50.7 pounds (23 kg).

Step 14: Products

With the polyethylene (PE) bottle caps collected, we produce various items such as key rings, surf wax combs, buttons, and buckles. These products are utilized internally, sold to individuals, or supplied to wholesalers.

Step 15: The money bit

We collect bottles free of charge from hotels and resorts. The collected PET is sold back to the industry for 55 Sri Lankan Rupees per kilogram (about 0.26 €). Products made from bottle caps are high-margin items. Greater value addition improves margins, as bulk selling raw materials is a low-margin operation requiring significant scale.

Step 16: Connecting with the industry

Sri Lanka boasts advanced companies capable of converting PET into polyester yarn. However, the lack of competition results in monopolistic pricing. A similar issue affects the glass industry, where a single buyer dictates pricing.

Step 17: The 3 most important things to start

We have been operating for two years. Although beginning can seem daunting, establishing a full operation from the start is not necessary. Essential elements to start are:

• a dedicated team,
• adequate space,
• and most importantly, a suitable target area.

The objective of a collection operation should be to maximize collection while minimizing driving. Tourist areas are ideal due to the significant volume of waste generated by large gatherings in confined spaces.

We hope this provides assistance in getting started. Concluding with an invitation to view the video demonstrating our operations.

Resources

Tools

• Modified tuk-tuk for waste collection transport
• PET bottle baler (produces 23kg bales)
• PE cap processing tools (key rings, combs, buckles)
• Collection bins with instructional stickers
• Painting/art supplies for branding

Hardware

• Two 20ft shipping containers (workspace)
• Public water refill stations
• Plastic sorting bags/containers
• Bulk PET storage (4+ metric tons/month capacity)
• Industrial scales (for weighing bales)

References

References

Articles

• Collecting plastic in Arugam Bay, Sri Lanka [1]
• Open-Source Fabbing Gives Plastic Waste New Life [9]
• Precious Plastic Open-Source Recycling Workshop [13]
• Cool Open-Source Recycling Machines [15]
• Bali's Battle for Marine Plastics Debris [17]
• Vietnam's Tourism Sector Pledge [19]
• Global Tourism Plastics Initiative [20]

Reports

• PLASTIC POLICIES IN SRI LANKA (PDF) [3]
• ECO-BRICKS AS A SUSTAINABLE SOLUTION (PDF) [5]

OpenSource Designs

• Open-Source Plastic Recycling Machines [9]
• Precious Plastic Open Source Fund [11]
• Precious Plastic Machine Blueprints [13]
• DIY Plastic Recycling Tools [15]
• MIT Solve: Precious Plastic Initiative [16]

YouTube

• Plastic Waste Project in Sri Lanka [7]