Mr

Lakshitha PARANAGAMAGE

Mr. Lakshitha Paranagamage is a results-driven circular economy professional with over eight years of experience leading high-impact environmental portfolios across South and Southeast Asia. He currently serves as a Program Coordinator at the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), where he oversees complex regional initiatives focused on mitigating air pollution and climate change through transformative waste management practices

Mr. Paranagamage possesses deep technical knowledge in the Plastic Value Chain, resource efficiency, and waste management infrastructure. His expertise is grounded in an advanced academic background, holding a Master’s in Marine Plastic Abatement from the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand and a Certificate in Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy from TU Dresden, Germany. His career highlights include, contributing to the integration of Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) into Sri Lanka’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC 3.0), designing material recovery facilities (MRFs) and developing 10-year waste management plans for local governments in Sri Lanka and developing regional roadmaps and policy recommendations to end open waste burning to reduce health and climate risks.

With a robust professional network spanning Japan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Indonesia, Nepal, and Vietnam, Lakshitha is adept at navigating diverse regulatory and socio-economic landscapes. He has successfully managed sub-grants and monitored contracts for a wide range of stakeholders, including prestigious universities, international agencies, and the private sector.  

Mr. Paranagamage is recognised for his solution-oriented leadership style and his ability to foster inclusive, high-trust working environments. His key strengths include bridging gaps between government, private industry, and civil society to achieve collective sustainability goals, being a skilled communicator and published researcher capable of translating complex technical data into actionable policy insights for global forums, and being experienced in the full lifecycle of grant administration and mentoring multi-disciplinary teams to deliver results within strict time and budget constraints.