The process of collecting PET plastic bottles for the purpose of recycling based on a QR code has been taken up for discussion at the Sectoral Oversight Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Sustainable Development.
According to a Parliament statement, the matter was discussed when the Parliamentary Committee convened recently (July 12) under the Chairmanship of MP Ajith Mannapperuma.
At the discussion, MP Ajith Mannapperuma said although 450,000 tons of plastic are imported into the country each year, only 50,000 tons are collected for recycling and a large amount of plastic is burnt in the open environment in the country.
Emphasizing that attention should be mainly directed to PET plastic, he said although approximately 1200 tons of PET plastic is used in this country per month, only 400 tons of it is recycled, and the remaining 900 tons are improperly released into the environment.
It was also highlighted that the said plastic is left in the rivers and canals, is burned in the open environment and is buried in the soil. It was disclosed that the main reason for not collecting PET plastic bottles is because the public is not interested in collecting them due to the lack of price for the bottles.
Given the existing context about PET plastic bottles, newspaper advertisements were published, calling before July 18, technical and financial-oriented proposals from industrialists in the field and parties who have an understanding of this issue regarding a method of returning deposits for PET plastic bottles based on a QR code.
However, the industrialists in the field and parties present had pointed out that the period given for that is insufficient and had requested the Committee to extend the time given to submit proposals and make the Extended Producer Responsibility system mandatory.
The Committee, which discussed the matter at length with all present, recommended having the period for receiving proposals extended from July 18th to August 27th and making the Extended Producer Responsibility system mandatory.
Moreover, officials of the Ministry of Environment were instructed to do a study and report to the Committee regarding the methods followed in other countries of the world regarding the collection of PET plastic bottles for recycling based on a QR code. (Newswire)