Xinhua
08 Dec 2023

COLOMBO, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's Central Environment Authority (CEA) will establish a QR code system to find out whether plastic bottles used for various reasons are recollected and recycled by those who produce and distribute them, the Department of Communication of Parliament announced on Friday.

Issuing a press release, the Department of Communication said the above decision was revealed when CEA officials appeared before the Sectoral Oversight Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Sustainable Development recently.

The committee suggested that the responsibility of re-collecting plastic bottles for recycling should be given to those who produce and distribute them.

The committee also suggested that an attractive payment should be made to those who return used plastic bottles to make recycling more attractive.

The committee recommended the CEA to ban the use of lunch sheets considering the serious damage caused to health and environment.

The chair of the committee instructed officials to identify single-use plastic equipment and materials currently being imported to Sri Lanka, list them and submit a report to the committee.

Previously, it was revealed that Sri Lanka produces around 938 metric tons of plastic waste every day, but only 4 percent is recycled.