Open dumping ruled unlawful at Meethotamulla — Karadiyana is next in line මීතොටමුල්ලේ විවෘත අපද්‍රව්‍ය බැහැර කිරීම නීති විරෝධී බව තීන්දු විය — කරදියාන ඊළඟට
Sri Lanka's Supreme Court ruled that long-term open dumping at Meethotamulla was unlawful — the same practice that killed 32 people when the site collapsed in 2017. Karadiyana, the Colombo region's largest active landfill, is documented by the National Building Research Organisation as over capacity, with slope-failure risk in the same category. This is a decided legal fact, not a forecast. ශ්‍රී ලංකා ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණය මීතොටමුල්ලේ දිගුකාලීන විවෘත අපද්‍රව්‍ය බැහැර කිරීම නීති විරෝධී බව තීන්දු කළේය. මෙය තීන්දු කරන ලද නීතිමය කරුණකි, පුරෝකථනයක් නොවේ.
Karadiyana receives approximately 500 tons per day — matching Phase Initial exactly. There is no current, published per-ton disposal cost for Colombo or the Western Province; this brief does not invent one. Instead, the case rests on eliminating a decided legal exposure and generating a new sovereign revenue stream, at zero capital cost to the Government. කරදියාන දිනකට ටොන් 500ක් පමණ ලබා ගනී — ආරම්භක අදියරට හරියටම ගැළපේ.
Under the Circular Supply Agreement (CSA), the Government of Sri Lanka pays a per-ton Beneficiation Fee ($50/ton Year 1, +2.5%/yr) and provides site access for the CSA term. Beginning 13 months after the corresponding fee payment, the Government receives back a larger, monthly Circular Royalty™ that structurally exceeds the fee and widens every year. චක්‍රීය සැපයුම් ගිවිසුම (CSA) යටතේ, ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජය ටොන් එකකට ගාස්තුවක් ගෙවයි.
Given Sri Lanka's sub-investment-grade sovereign rating (S&P: CCC+/C), CSA execution is conditioned on credit enhancement — MIGA or DFC political risk insurance — negotiated in parallel with site selection, not after. ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ස්වෛරී ණය ශ්‍රේණිගත කිරීම සලකා, CSA ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීම ණය වැඩිදියුණු කිරීම මත රඳා පවතී.
Four structural facts for Sri Lankaශ්‍රී ලංකාව සඳහා ව්‍යූහාත්මක කරුණු හතරක්
The Supreme Court's finding establishes a precedent applicable to any comparable open-dumping site — including Karadiyana, and potentially the other 260+ open dumpsites nationwide.
Kerawalapitiya WtE addresses 700 TPD elsewhere in the region under a separate 20-year agreement. The stalled Colombo South Waste Processing Facility (Fairway) remains of unconfirmed status.
Carbotura's Build-Own-Operate structure means the $305M Phase Initial capital cost never touches the Government's balance sheet — while the Government receives the Circular Royalty™ back, a payment that structurally exceeds the fee it pays.
Given Sri Lanka's CCC+/C sovereign rating, CSA execution is conditioned on MIGA or DFC political risk insurance — protecting both parties and giving the Government a bankable, insured commercial partner.
One path for Sri Lanka
Carbotura offers a single commercial structure for this and all new engagements: the Circular Supply Agreement (CSA) — Beneficiation Fee (TMC Fee) plus Circular Royalty™.
+ Circular Royalty™
- Beneficiation Fee: $50/ton, below the $100–$150/ton canon range, 2.5%/yr escalator (no local anchor)
- Circular Royalty™: 120%→150% multiplier on current-year fee, +1pp/yr
- Royalty commencement: 13 months after corresponding Beneficiation Fee payment
- CSA execution conditioned on MIGA/DFC credit enhancement (§1.6, Proposal)
Meethotamulla — closed, and the site of the March 2026 Supreme Court ruling — is Sri Lanka's primary legacy mining candidate. Set at $10/ton, a fifth of the $50/ton canon default, given that Sri Lanka's sovereign risk profile already requires MIGA/DFC credit enhancement on the core CSA — a full-rate bonus commitment would add exposure without proportional protection. Subject to Waste Characterization Study confirmation.
Subject to Waste Characterization Study confirmationKey figures at a glance
NBRO-flagged
paid to Carbotura
Zero government capex
MIGA/DFC cover required
Circular Royalty™ projections — 500 to 3,500 TPD
Circular Royalty™ shown independently from the Beneficiation Fee, per the Separate Transaction Principle — never netted.
| Capacity | Annual TPY | Royalty Year 2 | Royalty Year 30 | FTE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500 TPD ← Phase Initial | 182,500 | $11.32M | $27.82M | ~175 |
| 1,500 TPD | 547,500 | $33.95M | $83.47M | ~525 |
| 3,500 TPD · Phase Expanded | 1,277,500 | $79.22M | $194.77M | ~1,225 |
Royalty figures are amounts received. The royalty is paid 13 months in arrears, so the figure shown for a year is earned on the previous year’s delivered tonnage.රජකීය අගයන් යනු ලබු මුදල් වේ. රජකීයය මාස 13ක පමාවෙන් ගෙවනු ලැබේ, එබැවින් වර්ෂයක් සඳහා පෙන්වා ඇති අගය පෙර වර්ෂයේ බෙදා හරින ලද ටොන් ගණන මත උපයනු ලැබේ.
Circular Royalty™ Year 2 = 121% × $51.25/ton × TPY. Year 30 = 149% × $102.32/ton × TPY. All ESTIMATED per canon standard parameters. Beneficiation Fee obligation is a separate, non-netted transaction (see Proposal §7.1).