Premakumara Dickella

Institute for Global Environmental Strategies | IGES · IGES Centre Collaborating with UNEP on Environmental Technologies (CCET)

Municipal solid waste management (MSWM) is considered one of the serious environmental issues in the Philippines, with corresponding linkages to the climate change and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, methane (CH 4) linked with indiscriminate dumping of municipal solid waste has received the much attention with regard to public health...

Source separation plays a pivotal role in sustainable and integrated Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) and in achieving a circular economy in Asia. However, it is still not an official practice, and many cities continue to utilise open dumping, involving receiving mixed waste without pre-treatment. This paper, therefore, examines the advantag...

Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) is considered to be one of the most serious environmental issues in the Philippines. The annual waste generation was estimated at 10.6 million tonnes in 2012 and this is expected to double in 2025. The Republic Act (RA) No. 9003, widely known as the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, provides the...

There is a widespread interest in converting organic waste into compost fertilizer to extend the life of landfills, create economic and environmental benefits, and ultimately reduce the pressure on local governments in managing the ever-increasing complexity of municipal solid waste. However, composting is still seldom considered as a strategic ele...

The global demand for plastic is expected to double in the next 20 years. The increasing demand for Single-Use Plastic Products (SUPPs) has become one of the main environmental problems in many developing countries, including Sri Lanka, through direct and indirect means, in the way of excessive consumption and the pollution of the environment throu...

The sound management of healthcare waste (HCW) has been receiving increasing global attention, now even more so given the urgency of the COVID-19 pandemic. Uncontrolled fluctuations in generation quantities, the composition of HCW as well as the significant impacts it poses on public health and the environment require a more dynamic and cohesive re...

The report assesses the current status of microplastic monitoring facilities available in Vietnam. Concern over microplastic pollution in the environment is growing worldwide. The body of related global research continues to rise, along with the diversity in methodologies, results and equipment. Building a picture of the state of facilities and res...

The report assesses the level of public awareness of microplastic pollution and related hazards as well as the current status of microplastic monitoring facilities available in Sri Lanka’s state and private sector institutes, with an emphasis on the public water supply chain and identifying microplastic point sources upstream to ensure safe drinkin...

This article discusses the national policy development in Japan moving from a society based on mass-production, mass-consumption, and mass-disposal towards establishing a Sound Material-Cycle Society (SMC). It looks at how Japan has successfully created a local resource efficiency and regional vitalisation based on a harmonised approach toward circ...

Microplastics (MPs) have been identified as an emerging soil pollutant and a global environmental concern. Scientists have recently paid attention to the contamination of soil by MPs as their detrimental impacts on soil systems are largely unknown. MPs are considered to be vectors for other soil contaminants, such as potentially toxic elements (PTE...

This article presents field experience in developing local waste management plans called Kebijakan Strategi Daerah (Jakstrada) in the Lake Toba region, one of the popular tourist destinations in Indonesia. It examines the current waste management status and discusses key priorities and actions identified in the Jakstradas to improve the waste manag...

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) management, particularly the use of open dumps for final disposal has become a global issue. Worldwide, dumpsites are the third largest anthropogenic source of methane, accounting for 11 percent of estimated global methane emissions or 881 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. The 50 largest dumpsites affect the daily lives...

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) management, particularly final disposal as open dumps has become a global issue. Worldwide, dumpsites are the third largest anthropogenic source of methane, accounting for 11 percent of estimated global methane emissions or 881 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. The 50 largest dumpsites affect the daily lives of 64 millio...

This report is a Sinhala version (one of the local languages in Sri Lanka) of "Waste Management Strategy and Action Plan for Negombo City, Sri Lanka, 2020–2030" The Waste Management Strategy and Action Plan (WMSAP) for Negombo is the outcome of the committed team effort of city officials led by the Mayor and Commissioner of the Negombo City. The s...

This report is a Sinhala version (one of local languages in Sri Lanka) of "Waste Management Strategy and Action Plan for Negombo City, Sri Lanka, 2020–2030" The Waste Management Strategy and Action Plan (WMSAP) for Negombo is the outcome of committed team effort of city officials led by the Mayor and Commissioner of the Negombo City. The strategy...

The Waste Management Strategy and Action Plan (WMSAP) for Negombo is the outcome of committed team effort of city officials led by the Mayor and Commissioner of the Negombo City. The strategy also received inputs from committee members of Negombo Municipal Council (NMC) which comprised of Finance Committee, Health Committee, Industrial Committee, S...

Enhancing capacity for building resilient cities is a growing concern among policy makers and international communities to minimize the impacts of climate change and natural disasters. The UN Conference on Sustainable Development 2012 and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015–2030) called for urgent need in building resilient citie...

Myanmar, the largest country in mainland Southeast Asia, has been facing considerable challenges with the management of solid waste in the recent past because of increasing income and consumption patterns, urban growth, and lack of effective waste management policies, treatment, and disposal methods. Waste management is also a crosscutting issue th...

Providing nutritious, safe and affordable food for all in a sustainable manner is one of the greatest challenges the world faces today, particularly in the context of Asia – where 515 million people are estimated to be undernourished, with the highest rates of food insecurity in Central and Southern Asia (FAO, IFAD, UNICEF et al., 2018). Yet an est...

Accumulation of plastic wastes in the marine eco-system is growing rapidly with the increase of plastic production and consumption patterns, particularly single-use plastics as well as unsustainable plastic waste management practices. Land-based sources are recognised as the main cause (up to 80% of total marine debris) of marine plastic pollution....

Negombo City is one of the fastest growing tourist destinations in Sri Lanka. It is the major commercial and transport centre, and main health service provider for the region. However, municipal solid waste management is a pressing concern for Negombo due to expanding urbanization, increasing income, lack of public awareness, changes in consumption...

Due to its ability to recover both material and energy from organic waste, biogas technology is considered the best technology for treating organic waste. While in many emerging Asian countries more than 50% of municipal waste is organic waste, the amount of organic waste treated with biogas technology remains very limited. This study identified ke...

To achieve sustainable integrated waste management, municipalities need to move away from end-of-pipe approaches. What is rather needed are softer approaches that set incentives for sustainable waste management at an early stage of waste handling.

The National Strategy to Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants from the Municipal Solid Waste Sector in the Philippines was developed through a multi-stakeholder consultation process led by the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources (DENR) through its Environmental Management Bureau’s (EMB) Climate Change Division (CCD) and Solid Waste M...

Ecology Note – Towards Clean and Beautiful Capital City – is a supplementary material for primary school teachers who wish to introduce environmental education for the first time, or for those who want to enhance the scope of educational work in addition to what is already taught in the classrooms. The scope of environmental education is wide, inc...

Ecology Note – Towards Clean and Beautiful Capital City – is a supplementary material for primary school teachers who wish to introduce environmental education for the first time, or for those who want to enhance the scope of educational work in addition to what is already taught in the classrooms. The scope of environmental education is wide, inc...

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) - Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) through its Climate Change Division (CCD) and Solid Waste Management Division (SWMD), and the multi-agency National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC), in coordination with the Climate Change Commission (CCC), has been involved in developing th...

The Emission Quantification Tool (EQT) has been developed to support a rapid assessment of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs), (i.e, black carbon), associated with municipal solid waste management in a city/country, considering all the phases of the life cycle. Specifically intended for policymakers and practitioners...

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) - Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) through its Climate Change Division (CCD) and Solid Waste Management Division (SWMD), and the multi-agency National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC), in coordination with the Climate Change Commission (CCC), has been involved in developing th...

Similar to other cities in developing countries, the waste management has always been a major societal issue for Phnom Penh. The monthly amount of disposed waste at the landfill more than doubled in the past decade owing to factors such as population growth, economic growth, changes in industrial structure and of people’s lifestyle. While Phnom Pen...

Main Messages - Policymakers are increasingly looking for waste management solutions that can help achieve multiple development objectives, such as climate change mitigation, ecosystem conservation, improved human health, and the transition to a circular or zero waste economy; - This requires integrated approaches as called for by the Sustainable D...

Phnom Penh is facing huge challenges in waste management due to population growth, increasing income and consumption levels, expanding urbanisation and inadequate waste management due to lack of proper waste collection and treatment facilities, technical staff as well as unclear responsibilities among staff members. In this regard, with the request...

This report documents the proceedings of the workshop, which was designed to raise awareness, facilitate dialogue and promote knowledge sharing on effective SLCP mitigation actions in the MSW sector, with a view towards fostering a network of engaged actors from across the Asia-Pacific region. Workshop discussion focused on understanding drivers of...

Carbon dioxide (CO2), a primary driver of climate change, is responsible for more than half of the total current warming impact of human-caused emissions. Emitted CO2 remains in the atmosphere for hundreds of years, absorbing heat that contributes to a warming effect even after initial CO2 concentrations start falling. Taking this into consideratio...

This brief summarises the proceedings and outcomes of the 1st CCET webinar which was held on 25 July 2017 at the Pacifico Yokohama Conference Center in line with the International Forum for Sustainable Asia and the Pacific (ISAP) 2017. It is aimed to provide a stepwise guideline on how national and local authorities can undertake practical and impl...

Quality learning for sustainability can have a transformative effect in terms of promoting empowerment, leadership and wise investments in individual and collective lives and regenerating the local economies of cities, making them more inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. It can also help cities move towards achieving the United Nations Sust...

Composting is a traditional agricultural practice to recycle organic waste. However, due to ongoing rapid urbanization and changing life-styles, organic waste lost its traditional link to the rural agriculture. Instead, organic waste became a serious environmental issue in developing countries. This chapter therefore discusses the experiences of tw...

The solid waste sector is a significant contributor to methane (CH4) emissions with a global warming potential (GWP) of 21 times more than that of CO2 bringing the need for preventive actions from this sector. In the recent years, composting projects both centralized and decentralized have proved to be addressing this issue. However, much of the de...

Solid waste management is considered to be one of the most serious environmental issues confronting urban areas in developing countries. In keeping with global trends, many cities are focused on integrated approach based on the 3Rs (reduce, reuse and recycle) and trying to reduce the amount of waste generation at source rather than later at the end...

There are conceptual debates to understand the urban poverty in developing countries. Of late, many argue that income/consumption alone is an imperfect measure of people's well-being and emphasize non-monetary variables. Some have insisted on the concept of poverty based on perceptions of the poor themselves. This paper examines the urban deprivati...

The dry-compost ecological toilet separates and sanitizes human excreta, producing a useful soil improver and preventing contamination of ground water. It has proved to be particularly popular in water-scarce and in waterlogged areas.