Sri Lanka, Nov. 3 -- The Sri Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology (SLINTEC), a pioneer in nano and advanced technology and research has developed an advanced oil-water separator to remove hazardous liquid waste from water, a cleanup process that could save billions of dollars to the economy, a top official of the Institute told the Business Observer on Friday.

It is estimated that the cleanup costs for a medium-large oil spill could be between $2.4 billion and $9.4 billion.

While it is impossible to know exactly how much cleaning up an oil spill would cost, experts are able to estimate the financial risks by examining historic major spills.

A 2012 study on the potential economic impact of a tanker spill on ocean-based industries in Britis...