The 2026 Ruhunu Maha Kataragama Devalaya Esala Perahera, one of Sri Lanka’s most revered annual religious festivals, concluded on a high note – not only spiritually, but environmentally. This year marked a significant milestone in the nation’s sustainability journey, with Cleantech Ltd., serving as the Official Recyclable Waste Management Partner, in collaboration with the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) and the Elephant House Gunadamin Program. The initiative was launched under the CEA’s five-year ‘Polythene/Plastic Free Sacred Zone – 2030’ program, which aims to transform the Kataragama sacred city, temple precinct, and Menik Ganga area into a plastic-free zone by 2030 – minimising plastic waste generated throughout the year, particularly during the pilgrimage season, when hundreds of thousands of devotees visit Kataragama.
From 14 to 30 July, 2026, Cleantech deployed a dedicated waste management team that continuously collected, segregated, and recovered recyclable materials throughout the festival, with operations timed to coincide with key rituals and events. In the lead-up to the festival, the team distributed reusable eco-friendly bags to pilgrims arriving via the Padayathra route to encourage a reduction in single-use plastic. This on-ground effort was reinforced by three coordinated cleanup drives: a large-scale campaign on July 22 in Sellakatharagama, conducted with Government institutions, community organisations, volunteers and the private sector, drawing around 150 participants from the CEA, the Clean Sri Lanka Program, Cleantech, the Elephant House Gunadamin Program, the Department of Civil Security, the Youth Corps, the District and Divisional Secretariats, and the Kataragama Pradeshiya Sabha; a second cleanup during the grand Ruhunu Maha Kataragama Perahera on July 29, drawing around 200 participants including school students and community volunteers alongside the core partner organisations; and a final post-event cleanup and resource recovery operation on July 30.
The results were substantial. Approximately 6 metric tonnes of PET plastic bottles were collected and directed into Cleantech’s PET recycling plant – waste that would otherwise have threatened some of Sri Lanka’s most ecologically sensitive ecosystems, including the Menik Ganga, surrounding forest reserves, wildlife corridors connected to Yala National Park, and downstream freshwater and coastal environments. Compared with manufacturing an equivalent quantity of virgin PET resin, this recovery effort is estimated to have avoided approximately 9-15 MT of CO2 emissions, conserved 9-10 metric tonnes of petroleum-based raw materials, and saved 90,000-120,000 MJ of energy – meaningfully reducing the festival’s environmental footprint while keeping thousands of PET bottles out of the Menik Ganga watershed and surrounding habitats.
As Sri Lanka continues its march towards the ‘Polythene/Plastic Free Sacred Zone – 2030’ goal, this year’s initiative at the Kataragama Esala Perahera stands as a shining example of what can be achieved when the state sector, private sector partners, and communities unite for a common cause.