Debate:

Polythene: What is the answer?

Polythene is again in the news, mainly because of a recent initiative by the Central Environment Authority and the four leading supermarket chains to charge customers for polythene bags according to the bags’ size.

The consumers are thus charged Rs.2, 3 or 5. The idea, they say, is to discourage the use of polythene and encourage the use of re-usable bags, which the supermarkets sell for around Rs.50 per bag.

There are two sides to this story. Is it ethical for supermarkets to charge their customers extra money to provide packaging for the products they buy? On the other hand, proponents of the initiative say it will help protect the environment by minimising the use of non-biodegradable polythene.

Send us your views on this controversial issue as we begin a new topic on our Debate Page: Polythene - What is the answer?. Send in your contributions (containing 750-1,000 words) to ‘Daily News Debate’, Daily News, Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited, PO Box 1217, Colombo, or via e-mail to [email protected] before October 14, 2008. The next debate page will appear on October 15