Plastic rubbish highest in north and east
Countrywide, lunch sheets and wrappers accounted for 35 per cent of the plastic waste collected, which included bags, packing material, wrappings, shopping bags, bottles and lunch sheets.
The Eastern Province leads the nine provinces in the use of plastic lunch sheets and food wrappers.
A joint survey by the Central Environment Authority (CEA) and the Sri Jayawardenapura University on waste disposal patterns found 96 per cent of the solid waste collected from households in the Eastern Province was composed of plastic food wrapping.
The survey was done in groups of 5000 households in each province around the island.
In the Southern Province, 80 per cent of solid waste from households was plastic food bags.
The Northern Province was the next worst offender, with Vavuniya households having plastic wrap in 76 per cent of its waste, with Kilinochchi trailing behind.
Countrywide, lunch sheets and wrappers accounted for 35 per cent of the plastic waste collected, which included bags, packing material, wrappings, shopping bags, bottles and lunch sheets.
In Colombo district households in the Western Province, 19 per cent of solid waste was composed of plastic items.
CEA Solid Waste Management Director Bandula Sarathkumara attributed the increased plastic waste in the Eastern and Northern provinces to changing lifestyles and the rising number of foreign and local travellers to the region.
In view of the large amount of plastic collected in the Northern Province the CEA, under its Pilasaru programme, has opened a plastic/polythene recycling centre in the region. The Rs. 11 million project was funded with Rs.8 million from the CEA and Rs.3 million from the Northern Municipal Council.
The CEA said it planned to introduce recycling centres in each of the country’s 24 districts.Eight districts – Kurunegala, Balangoda, Anuradhapura, Matara, Kaduwela, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya and Jaffna – have their own recycling centres. Recycled plastic is used in the manufacture of garbage bags, plastic films and is mixed with concrete in building construction.