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Cabinet proposal to ban plastic straws, ‘sili’ bags

29 Aug 2021

  • Environment Minister to present to Cabinet today
By Pamodi Waravita A cabinet memorandum will be presented to the Cabinet of Ministers today (30) by the Minister of Environment Mahinda Amaraweera regarding the disposal of seven single-use disposable plastic and polythene products, including plastic straws, plastic cutlery and “sili sili” bags. According to the Ministry of Environment, the memorandum will propose a ban on plastic drinking straws and stirrers, plastic utensils (spoons, knives, cups, forks), plastic string hopper plates, plastic artificial grass cover (except in the case of indoor playgrounds), plastic and polythene garlands, incense sticks, and grocery and “sili sili” bags made of plastic and polythene (12 inches long, five inches broad, 10 inches wide). “The decision to ban these seven items was taken due to the severe environmental and health threats posed by them. The amount of ‘sili sili’ bags released by Sri Lanka to the environment amounts to 2 billion bags per year and this causes significant damages to both our drinking water sources and to the ocean,” the Environment Ministry Media Unit quoted Amaraweera as having said. The Environment Ministry banned five other single-use plastic and polythene products, including plastic sachets, from March of this year, whilst non-perishable lunch sheets were banned at the beginning of this month. The ban on lunch sheets will be brought into effect from Wednesday (1 September). Reportedly, approximately 5, 475 million lunch sheets are released to the environment every year in Sri Lanka, which adversely affects the health of both humans and animals.  


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