As the new year creeps closer and the festive season is in full swing across the nation, new beginnings come with the shedding of old baggage.
The holiday season set footprints made of more than just yuletide memories across cities and villages alike, as celebrations reveal a less cheerful legacy of single-use decorations, food wastage, and plenty of plastics which are discarded.
However, it is not merely Christmas trees and holiday merriment that leave behind a trail of pollution in its wake. This year, the situation is compounded by the floods from which Sri Lanka is steadily recovering.
Wastage
According to the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC), last year’s Christmas season brought forth a daily waste production of around 420 MT. Keeping with tradition as celebrations ring throughout, about 420 MT of daily waste, give or take 30 MT, is expected to be generated with the festivities this year, attributable to increased consumption and gatherings.
Large quantities of prepared food, leftovers from parties and community feasts, and perishable celebratory items contribute heavily to organic waste, along with seasonally observed purchases such as packaging from gifts and disposable décor, contributing significantly to waste production. Single-use plastics – including plastic bags, food packaging, disposable cutlery and plates, wrappers, and plastic bottles – also remain prevalent in post-festive trash streams.
CMC Municipal Commissioner Palitha Nanayakkara noted that waste production would be better managed this year, crediting plastic control measures implemented under Gazette No.2456/41 in which a levy is collected on Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) and Linear Low-Density Polyethylene (LLDPE) handle bags – more commonly known as sili-sili bags – used in retail, effective from the beginning of November.
Local Government efforts
Enamoured by the various festive decorations and lights that make Colombo’s streets shine bright throughout Christmas, around 600,000 people typically visit the city, generating significant amounts of garbage.
As such, clearing up the clutter of 2025 before New Year dawns across the nation is optimal, with the initiative to do so brought forth by Local Government authorities.
Discussions held by the CMC on Christmas Eve confirmed municipal councils’ deployment of additional sanitation crews and extension of waste collection schedules during the Christmas and New Year period. This includes targeted sweeping of main thoroughfares, markets, and high-traffic public spaces to remove accumulated litter, aiming to clean major roads during the night of 31 December with the objective of restoring areas to acceptable conditions before 6 a.m. on 1 January 2026.
However, Nanayakkara acknowledged that achieving full coverage by that time may not be possible in all areas due to shortages of personnel in certain regions, which could result in delays in clearing roads and residential zones.
“More popular areas such as Galle Fort, Independence Square, Kollupitiya, Bambalapitiya, and similar regions are given more focus so that we can complete the clean-up of such easily observed areas by the given time,” he said.
Clean Sri Lanka
Launched in January, the Clean Sri Lanka project was established to address a cleaner physical environment and a nationwide moral commitment to enhance ethical principles based on a framework of enhancement of the three pillars of sustainability: economic, social, and governance.
During the festive season, however, a lack of set plans in relation to keeping the country a ‘beautiful island’ raised eyebrows regarding the project’s initiatives.
Additional Secretary to the President – Clean Sri Lanka Programme S.P.C. Sugeeshwara told The Sunday Morning that Clean Sri Lanka did not have any special programmes dedicated to the clean-up of wastage stemming from celebrations during the festive season, reiterating Local Government efforts focusing on the clean-up of clutter left behind in the wake of festivities.
“Generally, Local Government authorities will request our help, which is when we will intervene to support the authorities,” he said.
Cyclone Ditwah and landfills
Following the widespread devastation wreaked by Cyclone Ditwah, local authorities are coordinating with the Central Government and partner organisations to support relief and rehabilitation in disaster-affected areas. The disaster has not only resulted in pollution on account of the usual plastics and other waste materials, but also due to polluted homes, personal belongings, and much more.
With floods having swept away various items from residences of affected areas, the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) is acting to support local authorities in reducing the resulting pollution. As such, the Western Province Waste Management Authority has allocated extra space within the Kerawalapitiya landfill to fulfil the purpose of temporarily storing items dispersed by the floods.
CEA Chairman Prof. Tilak Hewawasam explained that various disaster-struck items – now reduced to pollutive material – were being held at the Kerawalapitiya landfill at present. Such items are to be crushed and converted from waste to energy at the aforementioned site, serving its established purpose as Sri Lanka’s first waste-to-energy plant.
Further, the CEA facilitates Local Government authorities in disposing clinical and electronic waste (e-waste) appropriately, highlighting the importance of treating such substances with care.
As the festivities carry on and Sri Lanka pulls itself back up from tragedy, sustainable celebrations depend not only on post-event clean-ups but on shared responsibility. While municipal councils and Local Government bodies continue to mobilise resources to manage the surge in waste, officials emphasise that lasting change requires public cooperation through proper waste segregation and mindful disposal practices.