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Regulator blows hot and cold on polythene bag standards
The environmental regulator has rejected an alternative bag introduced by supermarkets, which they claim is bio-degradable.
The Central Environment Authority has said it will “not accept the product’’, which looks like the controversial polythene bags but is of a different texture. But it had not proposed a better solution.
Meanwhile, small traders, eateries, and takeaway outlets continue to use the banned products, saying they have no viable alternatives for lunch sheets. And if there were any products, they claim they do not know where to find them.The Sri Lanka Standards Institution, authorised to test polythene bags now used in the markets said it cannot do the job. Deputy director general, W N N Satharasinghe, said: “We do not have the machines to determine the bio-degradability and compostability.’’ But, she added, “We are already making arrangements for staffing and making inquiries from overseas companies to purchase machines.’’
She also said that the gazette notifications do not mention bio-degradability. “The SLSI is waiting for the parameters under which the product should be checked,’’ she said. Meanwhile, CEA’s Waste Management Deputy Director General, J. M. U. Indraratne, said that bio-degradability is self-explanatory and that any alternative product should be bio-degradable, or should de-compost in 90 days. The CEA, he said, will set the standards for testing the products and enforce them soon.
Trade and Commerce, Ministry secretary Chinthaka Lokuhetti, said several rounds of discussions had been completed with the small and medium scale manufacturers in the polythene industry and they have indicated their willingness to change. An estimated 30,000 businesses in the polythene industry are said to be adversely affected by the ban from September 1.
“We are looking at alternatives and proposing incentives for the conversion of machines to manufacture the bio-degradable products. Tax concessions are an option we are looking at,’’ he said. The CEA will carry out several awareness campaigns among importers, manufacturers, and traders to facilitate the transition to manufacturing bio-degradable and compostable polythene.
COMPOSTABLE AND BIO-DEGRADABLE
Compostable polythene breaks down in a composting environment by natural means back into the simple elements, namely, carbon dioxide, water, and biomass. In a short period of time, the bags compost in home composting units. Compostable bags do not contain any polythene.
Bio-degradable polythene is starch-based polymers, polyester-bacteria based polymer, oxo-biodegradable polymer, hydro-degradable polymer and photo degradable polymers. It takes up to 12 to 14 months to bio-degrade.