'Use fewer polythene bags'

NEWSPAPER reports said recently that in a major move to curb the extensive use of polythene bags, the Central Environment Authority is preparing legislation to stipulate the minimum thickness of the polythene bag to be manufactured to 15 microns.

Definitely it is a good move. Today the cities we live in have become not only jungles of concrete but seas of dirt and waste too - most of it caused by polythene.

If you take a walk around any street or park in any town in Sri Lanka, or a stroll along any canal or riverside, even within our nature reserves, you will realize that we have a serious problem with plastic and in particular polythene bags.

And after the cleaners have swept the rubbish off our streets and we think perhaps city suburbs aren't so dirty after all, take a look upwards and there is bound to be a polythene bag waving in the breeze caught in the branches of a tree.

Plastic bags are a part of the disposable culture of the West. We have aped this, abandoning the use of jute, 'pan' and fabric bags which were very popular in our households before plastic began to be used.

It's time we make moves to curb our society's appetite for the single-use polythene bag. These are now consumed in staggering numbers and are responsible for massive disposal problems including unsightly litter, flooding and the death of both land and sea animals that mistake them for food.

Made of polyethylene, they are also hazardous to manufacture and take up to 1,000 years to decompose.

In some countries, the traders have started charging a mandatory tax on each new plastic bag. Shoppers have adjusted quickly and have welcomed the move, arriving at stores 'pre-armed' with bags.

In South Africa the Government imposed legislation making retailers handing out the bags free of charge to shoppers now face a fine of $13,80 or a 10-year jail sentence.

This legislation means shoppers will either have to take bags with them when they go shopping, or buy new, thick, stronger plastic bags that are easier and more profitable to recycle. The move from bags with an average of 17 microns in thickness to the new minimum of 30 microns started few years ago.

The government wanted to ban all plastic bags thinner than 80 microns, but the proposal caused an outcry among trade unions and business.

Now, the cost of the thick plastic bags will be carried by the customer. (A micron, or micrometer, is one-thousandth of a millimetre. A human hair measures about 50 microns across.)

Other countries already implementing or considering legislation to control plastic bag pollution. Another strategy adapted by many countries is to provide the shoppers with suitable and affordable alternatives. Common alternatives chosen are cloth or paper bag.

Few countries have encouraged recycling of polythene bags but found out that the process should be in a controlled atmosphere without causing any adverse impact on health and environment.

In the case of Australia, it is diligently working to reduce the use of light plastic bags. The country has implemented what is known as "Australian Retailers Association Code of Practice for the Management of Plastic Bags wherein the signatories promise to implement cost-effective initiatives to reduce the issuance of the lightweight bags not already being recycled or reused.

After 18 months of implementation, the Code will be reviewed by a retail industry working group with the goal of achieving a continual improvement in the sustainable management and reduction of current lightweight polythene bags. This Code covers the period October 10, 2003 to December 31, 2005."

These are a few examples we can make use of. However, I believe what we really need today is a multi-faceted information campaign sustained continuously for at least a year.

This could be done with the help of the NGOs and Corporate sector. The end result should be that people in general become conscious about their behaviour while they dispose of solid waste including polythene bags.

The latest development in the war against polythene bag abuse comes from India where priests are the latest recruits to join the battle. They are being roped in to urge devotees to join the anti polythene drive.

Priests help people to get rid of their sins and to reach god, now they will also help to make the world a polythene free zone.

We, in Sri Lanka, could follow suit. Perhaps our new converts may achieve what the governments has not been able to do for decades.

Food for thought!