Independent GIS
Full replacement of proprietary Google Maps libraries with OpenStreetMap / MapTiler tiles via Leaflet. Avoids user tracking and reduces overall network footprint.
Volunteer contribution
Status : Deployed
PlasticWatch Sri Lanka
« Stop Burning & Dumping Waste. Protect Sri Lanka, Protect Our Children. »
Bilingual citizen platform (English / Sinhala) for awareness, participatory mapping of open plastic burns and illegal dumps, and a directory of municipal and private collection points and recycling centres in Sri Lanka.
View the official site
srilanka.plasticwatch.org/en — Waste Watch Map & Direct Directory
- 2026
- March - April
- Full stack & design
- Design, full-stack development and volunteer contribution
- Online
- Production · srilanka.plasticwatch.org
- Citizen initiative
- Volunteer ecological and humanitarian project focused on public health in Sri Lanka
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Leaflet & MapTiler
Free OpenStreetMap vector data, with no dependency on proprietary ecosystems.
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ALTCHA Cryptographic
Proof-of-work without third-party cookies or intrusive Google reCAPTCHA tracking.
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Zero-Ad Privacy
Interface without ad trackers, bilingual English and Sinhala for the field.
Site hero visual: “Stop Burning & Dumping Waste”, “Protect Sri Lanka, Protect Our Children”, Education, Add Report and Recycle buttons, burning under banana trees near a well.
srilanka.plasticwatch.org/en
An island health & ecological emergency
Massive emissions of carcinogenic dioxins and furans
In Sri Lanka, the lack of structured collection chains in rural and peri-urban areas pushes residents to burn plastic waste in the open every day. This process releases highly toxic dioxins and furans straight into the atmosphere, causing chronic respiratory illness, childhood asthma and severe oncological disease.
Meanwhile illegal dumps pile up through the monsoons, clog river drainage networks, contaminate coastal aquifers and directly threaten fisheries as well as the coastal tourism economy.
- Health
- Dioxins, furans, acute childhood asthma and ambient air pollution.
- Ecosystems
- Blocked canals, runoff into the Indian Ocean and coral destruction.
- CEA Act
- National Environmental Act: absolute ban on open-air waste burning.
Field documentary evidence
Doc ID : PW_LK_FIELD
Citizen use in real conditions: direct transmission to the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) and local recyclers.
Put a direct tool in every resident’s hands to report offences, immediately contact the environmental police (119) and route plastics to official collection centres.
Frugal engineering & terrain
As creator and volunteer developer, the goal was an ultra-light web architecture that works on entry-level devices, under blinding sun and unstable 3G/4G across the island’s nine provinces.
Rejecting the classic model of heavy apps from proprietary stores (Play Store / App Store) that demand gigabytes of bandwidth and logged-in accounts, PlasticWatch Sri Lanka was built as a web service reachable on the first click.
- Full bilingual support (complex Sinhala script & English).
- Maximum contrast readability outdoors in high tropical brightness.
- No intrusive cookies and citizen protection of anonymity.
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Bilingual ergonomics
Instant English / Sinhala toggle with balanced typefaces for perfect alignment of the island script.
UI EN / SI • TYPO SYNC -
Waste Watch Map
Leaflet-based interactive map engine with instant category filters: Burning, Dumping and Recycling centres.
LEAFLET GIS • 3 DYNAMIC FILTERS -
3-step reporting
Simplified 3-step citizen form: automatic geolocation, evidence photo upload and ALTCHA anti-spam without Google captcha.
3-STEP WORKFLOW • ALTCHA POW -
Directory of the 9 provinces
Exhaustive directory including 119 emergency numbers, Central Environmental Authority regional offices and 40+ recovery centres.
9 PROVINCES • 40+ RECYCLING CENTRES
Civic chromatic & bilingual rendering
Bilingual engine
Instant English / Sinhala toggle
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Golden yellow #f2c62d
Golden yellow, the flame that marks open-air plastic burning.
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Bright orange #fb7416
Bright orange, the alert for a reported fire or illegal dump.
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Emerald green #1ebd87
Emerald green, collection centres and material to recover.
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Night blue #111e39
Night blue, a dark ground readable under Sri Lanka’s tropical sun.
09:41
4G
Data sovereignty & web ethics
- Leaflet.js
- MapTiler Tiles
- OpenStreetMap
- ALTCHA PoW
- PWA Offline-First
- Vanilla JS
- Backend : Symfony 8
Cookie-free anti-spam
Report-form protection via a browser-side proof-of-work mathematical challenge (ALTCHA), removing the need for Google reCAPTCHA.
Cookie Privacy Engine
Strict privacy manager respecting individual rights of environmental whistleblowers without storing superfluous device fingerprints.
Kiyoi
Database architecture and hosting: Intel Xeon E5-1620v2 - 32GB DDR3 ECC 1600MHz.
Directory and geolocation of recycling centres to guide PET/HDPE collections and eliminate open-air incineration.
More than 40 recovery centres listed, municipal and private — including Cleantech, Hayleys Eco Solutions, Eco Spindles, Ceylon Waste Management and INSEE Ecocycle.
The civic path in 3 steps
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1 01 / Discovery
Awareness & law
The citizen discovers the medical impact of dioxins on their family and takes ownership of the CEA’s strict legal framework banning burning.
Entry point: educational home -
2 02 / Consultation
Location & monitoring
Interactive map exploration: district selection (Colombo, Galle, Kandy, Jaffna), live alerts and nearby sorting centres.
Tool: interactive Waste Watch Map -
3 03 / Direct action
Reporting or recycling
Three-step transmission of a geolocated photo report, or one-click call to Environmental Police (119) and listed collection centres.
Result: processing & intervention
Verifiable indicators of the system
Indicators below only restate elements observable on the official platform. Audience metrics and report volumes will be published after analytical extraction.
- 9
- Provinces covered
- Directory of CEA regional offices and centres listed across the island.
- 40+
- Sorting & collection centres
- Municipal and private services sorted by waste type (PET, HDPE, metals and cardboard).
- 119
- Environmental hotline
- Immediate direct access to Sri Lankan police rapid-response services in case of illegal burning.
- —
- In testing phase
- Report volumes and audience data published after analytical extraction.
Let's talk about your project.
Frugal interface architecture, open mapping solutions or interactive technologies with strong civic and environmental impact.
Case study: PlasticWatchVolunteer contribution
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