Environment Minister Mahinda Amaraweera has instructed the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) to take legal action against two companies for violating the gazette notification banning plastics and polythene.
The CEA banned sachet packets of polythene and plastics weighing less than 20 grams, which do not belong to the category of food and pharmaceuticals, from March 31.
The gazette notification has been issued banning five types of polythene and plastic products.
Following the ban, two companies had continued to manufacture 24 grams of sachets of polythene and plastic.
“Some companies have complied with the orders and have fully suspended production, while some others are still manufacturing them defying the new regulations. The disposal of discarded sachet packets has become an environmental problem. It has been confirmed that drinking water sources and other water sources were polluted as a result. The ban was implemented after a study of all those facts,” the Minister said.
The Minister has instructed the CEA to institute legal action against the companies violating the new regulations.