LNP – Ban on shopping bags, lunch sheets come to effect soon: Minister

The Environment Ministry has decided to implement the ban on shopping bags and lunch sheets in the next few weeks, Environment Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said.

Addressing a meeting yesterday, he said proposed Environmental Management Plans to be implemented during the period 2021-2022.

The ministry has implemented a number of programmes to protect the country’s environment.

“The ministry has already implemented the ban on polythene and plastics which are widely used in our country. The Ministry has banned five polythene and plastic products since March 31. A list of eight more categories has been prepared for future bans. Prohibiting two of them would probably be controversial. That are lunch sheets and shopping bags. These two types that cause most of the pollution in our country are released into the environment in millions every day. One supermarket chain alone issues billions of shopping bags a year to consumers free of cost. The total amount of shopping bags discarded in the island annually is around two billion, “the Minister said.

“Lunch sheets are also released into the environment in millions. We are in talks with the relevant departments to introduce alternatives to these products. But there is still no product that meets the demand, “he said.

Whether there are options or not, the ban on lunch sheets and shopping bags will definitely be implemented. Before these came into use, we used some material for this purpose. Therefore, we may have to get used to them again, he said.