PRESS RELEASE
Sri Lanka is the
only place on earth that lay a toxic lunch sheet on the ceramic plate for
eating. The use of 20 million lunch sheets and 15 million shopping bags by
21milion Sri Lankans in a single day is a collective environmental crime
against the nature and the future generation. Both consumers and the plastic
manufacturers are equally responsible for this crime. This has to stop now
before we destroy our soil, beautiful landscapes such as rivers, beaches and
mountains.
“We know that there are plenty traditional
alternatives and modern natural biodegradable plastics to meet the national requirement.
However, we have learned that certain plastic manufacturers are trying to mislead
the authorities and the political leadership for promoting so-called OXO-BIODEGRADABLE
plastic sheets and bags” said Hemantha Withanage, Executive Director of the
Centre for Environmental Justice.
According to the
research findings in Europe and other countries Oxo-biodegrable are equally or
more harmful than the conventional High-Density Polyethylene sheets. According
to the scientists Oxo-fragmentable plastics are conventional plastic materials
with artificial additives that do not biodegrade but merely fragment into small
pieces that remain in and potentially harm the environment and endanger
recycling and composting. They add salts of heavy metals such as Cobault and
Nickel to initiate this fragmentation. These additives are supposed to enable
the biodegradation of apparently non-biodegradable plastics.
It is assumed that
oxo-degradable materials only disintegrate and finally visibly disappear under
the influence of light (UV radiation) and oxygen. If no real biodegradation
takes place the formation of invisible plastic fragments, contributing to the environmental
and health hazard of micro plastics in the environment. Such plastics will
break into small pieces but will not degrade to produce CO2, water and Humus
which is the result of real biodegradation. This UV radiation initiated
fragmentation can happen in very dry countries and not in the garbage with
heavy moisture which is the case in Sri Lanka.
Other than hazard of microplastics, adding
heavy metals such as Cobalt and Nickle will make unknown health impacts and
will destroy the soil quality. These toxic contaminated composts/ soil cannot
be used in organic cultivation.
Therefore, we
advise Ministry of Industries, Ministry of Environment and the Central
Environmental Authority to defeat this move to accept Oxo-biodegradable
plastics as biodegradable plastics. We caution that this will only result in
reversing the ban imposed on the shopping bags and lunch sheets.
“We can only accept true biodegradable
plastics as an alternative and it is the common responsibility of the
authorities and the manufacturers to introduce real alternative to non-degradable
HDPE bags and sheets rather than introducing fake solution such as Oxo-biodegradable
plastics” said Hemantha Withanage.
For more information:
Hemantha Withanage:
0777600503
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Ranjan
Karunanayaka:0717488286
