Accordingly, disposable polythene and plastic, PET bottles (PolyEthylene Terephthalate), lunch sheets less than 20 microns, sachet packets (non-food and non-pharmaceutical), cotton buds (non-medical), and air-filled plastic toys are included in this.

Addressing a media briefing held at the Ministry of Environment on the 29th, the Minister of Environment Mahinda Amaraweera stated that the production of the aforementioned plastic and polythene products for local use has been banned from today (31).

The Minister mentioned that considering the requests made by several companies, the relevant products which have already been manufactured will be given a period of three months to be marketed and no restrictions have been imposed on the export of these products.

He said the companies were entirely local and some manufacturers were aware of the ban but had even imported and installed new equipment. Nevertheless, the Minister said that one of the companies had decided to send the newly imported equipment back to the country of import.

However, the manufacture of the said products in Sri Lanka will be banned from today and the aforementioned items which are currently on sale in the shops can be sold during the given period of time and such shops will not be inspected. The Central Environmental Authority (CEA) will occasionally inspect the production factories to see if they are manufactured for local use.