Following a proposal by President Maithripala Sirisena, who is also the Minister of Environment, the Cabinet agreed to ban the use of polythene and Styrofoam by local shops with immediate effect, Xinhua news agency reported.
The use, production, import and sale of lunch sheets would be banned under the new regulation, said the Central Environmental Authority (CEA), adding that burning of plastic bags in open areas was also prohibited from Wednesday.
The CEA said shopping bags will be replaced with reusable cloth bags under the new law, which according to local media reports was introduced in an effort to reduce environmental damage brought about by the use of non-biodegradable polythene items.
The island nation has been facing a garbage crisis after a central garbage dump collapsed in April, killing over 30 people and burying an entire neighbourhood.
Local residents complained that piles of garbage were left uncollected in the capital with the government vowing that it would clean up Colombo and its outskirts.
Sri Lanka is also facing its worst ever dengue epidemic with over 225 patients killed and over 80,000 infected.
(This story has not been edited by Social News XYZ staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
About VDC
Doraiah Chowdary Vundavally is a Software engineer at VTech . He is the news editor of SocialNews.XYZ and Freelance writer-contributes Telugu and English Columns on Films, Politics, and Gossips. He is the primary contributor for South Cinema Section of SocialNews.XYZ. His mission is to help to develop SocialNews.XYZ into a News website that has no bias or judgement towards any.