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Companies manufacture sachets little above banned quantity: CEA to alter regulations on single use plastic 

09 May 2021

  • CEA discusses production of 24ml sachets 

  • Conglomerate ‘encourages’ consumers to purchase large quantities

By Yakuta Dawood    In a little over an entire month since the implementation of the ban imposed on several Single Use Plastic (SUP) items, the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) is planning either to alter or replace the said ban with more stringent regulations, The Sunday Morning Business learned.  The plans for the alteration or replacement comes following leading conglomerates debuting SUP sachet packets with a capacity slightly above the banned capacity of 20 ml, serving no real purpose to the ban.  Speaking to us, CEA Chairman Siripala Amarasinghe stated that extensive discussions are taking place alongside the Environment Ministry to make a solid decision to stop the production of such sachet packets, which could still have an impact on the environment.  “Legally, we cannot go to court, as it is above the net volume of 20ml. However, right now our Ministry, our legal division, and the Consumer Affairs Authority’s legal division are holding continuous discussions, the results of which will be announced within a few days. The imposed regulations may be altered,” Amarasinghe said.  Minister of Environment Mahinda Amaraweera announced the ban on SUPs early this year and introduced National Environmental (Plastic Material Identification Standards) Regulations No. 01 of 2021, under Section 32 of the National Environmental Act, No. 47 of 1980.  Further, adding to the context, he noted that definite action would be taken in line with environmentally-friendly regulations.  We also spoke to a leading conglomerate in Sri Lanka which started manufacturing sachet packets with a capacity of 24ml. A spokesperson stated that the company has always partnered with the Government whilst respecting the policies and laws of the country.  “We have discontinued manufacturing, importing, and selling sachets that fall within the purview of the gazette, with effect from 31 March 2021, to support the reduction of net plastic output produced,” the spokesperson assured.  Explaining further, the spokesperson stated that to abide by the regulations imposed, a combination of sustainable packaging solutions is required, and has been proposed.  “It involves a systematic, sustainable, and gradual transition of consumers to larger packs, while disposing of plastic waste responsibly. We have started with encouraging and incentivising consumers to buy larger packs and dispose of plastic waste responsibly through national communication programmes for some of our brands, and we have also developed other packaging formats that are currently being evaluated for consumer acceptance and environmental suitability,” the spokesperson elaborated.  The spokesperson added that the company 100% ensures that all its plastic packaging is designed to be fully reusable, recyclable, or compostable.  “These sustainable solutions are able to minimise net plastic output that offers consumers the access to daily necessity products at an affordable price,” the spokesperson concluded.  Meanwhile, CEA Waste Management Division Director Sarojini Jayasekara, speaking to The Sunday Morning Business also confirmed that necessary discussions are taking place by all officials involved, but refused to divulge further information, as decisions have not been finalised yet.  Further, when asked about inflatable toys, cotton swabs, and other banned items still existing in the market, Jayasekara said that the CEA has given a validity period of three months for manufacturers and sellers to finish their existing sales and stocks.  “The importation and the manufacturing of inflatable toys have been stopped by all companies. However, due to the prevailing conditions in the country, Environment Minister Mahinda Amaraweera has granted three months to clear out their stocks that were produced before the ban,” Jayasekara added.  Speaking to us in April, Jayasekara stated that violators of this ban would be subjected to individual raids.  “We are going to initiate raiding, and carry out individual raiding in case the ban is violated, but we will raid individually, because we have to file individual cases,” she added.  Elaborating further, Jayasekara said that the first step requires individual raids, after which the evidence found would be presented in Court. Also, following Court proceedings, the appropriate fine will be decided (evaluated as per the Act) and levied on the ban violators.  The Ministry of Environment took the decision to impose a ban on single-use plastics and gazetted it on 31 March 2021, with the ban coming into effect from 1 April 2021, according to the Central Environment Authority (CEA), which is acting as the regulator.  Accordingly, sachets having less than or equal to a net volume of 20ml/net weight of 20g (except for packing food and medicines), inflatable toys (except balloons, balls, water floats/pool toys, and water sports gear), cotton swabs with plastic stems (except plastic cotton swabs used for medical/clinical treatment), and the use of Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) material to package agrochemicals has been banned in Sri Lanka.


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