Uncovering the recycling potential of industrial waste in Sri Lanka

The generation of industrial waste is mainly dependent on several factors, including the type of industry, production capacity, technology use and raw materials involved in the manufacturing processes. The present study is a cross-sectional study that was conducted with 580 industries under six industrial sectors in Sri Lanka in 2022. The main objective of this research was to investigate solid waste generation and estimate the recyclable fraction in the waste. Furthermore, this study calculated the prevailing recycling rate of each industrial sector and the waste generation per person employed in the sector. Industrial processes, the types and quantities of waste, waste disposal methods and management activities in terms of recycling and disposal were evaluated through a structured questionnaire and random field observations. The study identified that the composition of selected recyclable items was 16.7% of the total waste generated in the industrial sector. The prevailing rate of recycling in different sectors was as follows: manufacturing of food products (36.6%), manufacturing of beverages (82.3%), manufacturing of textiles (68.6%), manufacturing of chemical and chemical products (28.5%), manufacturing of rubber and plastic (46.5%) and manufacturing of metallic mineral products (17.8%) from the total generated recyclable material. The study further estimated the waste intensity (waste generation per unit of product output) of the industrial sectors as follows: 0.38 (manufacturing of food products), 0.36 (manufacturing of beverages), 0.27 (manufacturing of textiles), 0.26 (manufacturing of chemical and chemical products), 0.17 (manufacturing of rubber and plastic) and 0.16 (manufacturing of non-metallic mineral products).