15 July 2021 08:53 am Views - 88
By Chaturanga Samarawickrama
The Environment Ministry has made the use of biodegradable lunch sheets compulsory from August 1.
Environment Minister Mahinda Amaraweera addressing the media said biodegradable lunch sheets should be made available in shops from the said date. The production and distribution of non-perishable polythene lunch sheets will be banned from August 1
However, a grace period of one month will be granted to sell the existing stock of lunch sheets which have already been produced. Any new production and distribution of lunch sheets made of polythene will be prohibited thereafter, the Minister said.
The Central Environmental Authority (CEA) and the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) will conduct raids to find whether the prohibited materials are still being produced. The law will be strictly enforced against persons who manufacture and distribute in defiance of government order, Minister Amaraweera said.
“According to the latest information released by the CEA, the use of lunch sheets in the country has increased. Accordingly, the number of lunch sheets used in our country per day has increased to 12-15 million. And not even one percent of this is recycled and all lunch sheets purchased by the public are disposed to the environment,” the Minister said.
Currently there are alternatives to this. However, biochemical lunch sheets are currently manufactured by 10 factories.