Abstract
As the economic growth and urbanization progresses, the amounts of Electrical and Electronic Equipment continue to grow in Sri Lanka. It impacts on consumer attitude and shorten the product life span.
Looking at the used home appliances called E-Waste, Majority of E-Waste are collected, dismantled and reused by informal sector, there are no national dataset available for their sales, generations, and actual condition of processing that may not be appropriate.
This survey intends to estimate E-Waste flow targeting 6 items (Mobile phone, PC, TV, Refrigerator, Air conditioner, Washing Machine) in Kurunegala Municipal Council which was selected as one of the pilot project sites in JICA Solid Waste Management project for "Expert in Pollution Control and Reduction of Environmental Burden in Solid Waste Management" conducting from February 2017 to develop their sorted recyclable waste distribution channel and E-Waste recycling approach appropriate to Sri Lanka.
The research found that the estimated result of E-Waste discharge amount in Kurunegala Municipal Council is 14,370 appliances/year (313.35 tons/year) (And 7.3 tons/year of E-Waste collected by the local authority). 60.7% of E-Waste is collected by repair/reuse shops, and 39.2% is collected by retailer/sales shops. The valuable parts are exported to more than 40 countries.