By Chaturanga Samarawickrama  

With the decision of the Environment Ministry to ban lunch sheets and ‘silly silly’ bags, local manufacturers are keen to introduce new products from eco-friendly and easily perishable materials.  

As an alternative to this ban, various manufacturers were interested in producing eco-friendly, chemical-free lunch sheets and shopping bags that will decompose quickly.  

“Accordingly, two young entrepreneurs in the country have come forward to produce eco-friendly lunch sheets and shopping bags using manioc, a local natural ingredient that decomposes easily and quickly,” it is reported.  
“Billions of lunch sheets and ‘sili sili’ bags made of polythene and plastic are being released into the environment. It has caused massive environmental damage in our country. The supermarket chains alone exceed using one billion bags and about 1.5 million lunch sheets are released into the environment every day,” Environment Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said.  

Overall, ‘silly’ bags and lunch sheets, including shopping bags that people use, were not recyclable, but 99 percent of the ‘silly’ bags that were purchased were being released directly to the environment.  

Therefore, the Minister instructed the Central Environmental Authority to take steps to encourage such eco-friendly products. 

• Billions of lunch sheets and ‘sili sili’ bags made of polythene and plastic are being released into the environment
• Overall, ‘silly’ bags and lunch sheets, including shopping bags that people use