SL packaging industry continues to urge government to withdraw proposed ban on polythene use

If you were a visitor to the 16th Lanka Pak Exhibition held for three days last week at the BMICH, you would have noticed near the entrance a stall run by the Sri Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology (SLINTEC) promoting nanotechnology for packaging applications.

While the Sri Lanka packaging industry is grappling with a problem of a proposed ban on polythene which has become part and parcel of packaging, the entry of nanotechnology to packaging is very valuable, industry officials say.

At the inauguration ceremony of the exhibition, J.D.C. Perera, President, Sri Lanka Institute of Packaging said that though packaging standards in Sri Lanka are on par with international levels, there is still a need for further development and expansion.

He said that there are definite signs of the industry expansion as there are more and more global players coming to Sri Lanka to set up joint ventures due to the economic liberty and the facilities available for new ventures here. This is also a reflection of the high quality packaging here.

On the sidelines of the event, Mr. Perera told the Business Times that while on earlier occasions there were foreign participants, this year it was 100 per cent a Sri Lankan event.

Speaking on the impending ban, he said the government has decided to ban polythene material below 20 microns of thickness He said that the present status of polythene in the industry is that without polythene, the packaging sector would collapse. Globally polythene has come to stay with packaging and there are no environmental issues as the recycling process of polythene is in place in those countries.