Govt. to ban certain plastic and polythene products from January

The Cabinet has approved to ban on several one-time -use plastic and polythene products from January 1 next year, Cabinet Co-spokesman Udaya Gammanpila said.

Addressing the media at the weekly Cabinet meeting, he said that alternative products to plastic will be introduced.

Accordingly, chemicals and pesticides will not be allowed to be packed in containers using Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET or PETE) and Polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Glass or any other alternate materials have been proposed for the packaging of such chemicals and pesticides.

“A proposal has been made to ban polythene and plastic sachets of less than 20 milligrams and 20 grams. However, this ban will not apply for   packing of foods and medicines. It is permitted to use 100 milliliters and 100 grams or more as an alternative.The decision to ban sachets have already been taken as a measure to minimise environmental hazards,” Cabinet Co-spokesman said.

The miscellaneous inflatable toys (toys made up of plastic which can be filled with air, gas) except balloons, plastic balls and floating pool toy items will also be banned and the proposal has been made to use safe alternative materials

All cotton buds will be banned except for the plastic cotton buds that are used for medical treatments and it is advised to use biodegradable material as an alternative.

Cabinet approval was also granted to make it mandatory to cite code numbers from 1 to 7 for recycling of all plastic products. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)