All types of lunch sheets to be banned

Officials of the Ministry of Environment have been instructed by the Minister to take measures to ban all types of lunch sheets.

Minister of Environment Mahinda Amaraweera pointed out that former President Maithripala Sirisena, who served as the Minister of Environment in 2016, had taken steps to ban lunch sheets, however, the decision was not implemented properly.

It has been estimated that Sri Lanka releases over 10 million lunch sheets into the environment per day, the Ministry stated issuing a statement.

While lunch sheets decompose in the soil within 2 to 3 years, scientists have confirmed that the micro-plastic particles that accumulate in the soil due to lunch sheets last for over 200 years.

Minister Amaraweera further stated that it is possible to issue an order without publishing a new gazette notification as the Ministry of Environment had taken steps to ban lunch sheets in previous occasions.

The Secretary to the Ministry of Environment, Dr. Anil Jasinghe, as well as officials from the Central Environmental Authority and other institutions participated in the discussion.