COPE wants National Environmental Act amended to meet today’s requirements

Chairman of the COPE, Prof. Charitha Herath MP has instructed Secretary to the Ministry of Environment, Dr. Anil Jasinghe to amend the National Environmental Act to meet the needs of the time.

The COPE Chairman said that there had been attempts to amend the National Environmental Act for two decades.

Prof. Herath said that there had been lengthy discussions about the weaknesses and loopholes of the Act, however nothing had been done to address those issues. Some institutions were opposed to amending the Act and instructed the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) to hold discussions and iron out the issues, he said.

The National Environmental Act was also discussed when the COPE took into consideration an environmental audit on the import, use and post use management of plastics. Between 2012 and 2018, Sri Lanka had imported 3.35 billion kilos of plastic spending Rs. 184.3 billion.

It was also revealed that there had been a drastic, year on year, increase in plastic imports between 2012 and 2017. Since Sri Lanka did not have an optimal waste management system, the plastic imports were causing great environmental damage, the COPE Chairman said.

The COPE was of the view that the Ministry of Provincial Councils as well as local authorities themselves should play a bigger role in collecting and disposing of plastic waste. Laws regulating the use of plastic should also be strengthened, he said.

The COPE also noted that there were neither quality standards nor price controls set for biodegradable food containers and that those had to be addressed soon. Although the manufacturers claimed that those items were biodegradable; there had been no study on how they degrade when they interact with the soil, water, marine environment or at garbage disposal sites.

The CEA was also instructed to discourage the import of plastic, offer environmental friendly solutions to consumers and promote them. The Secretary of the Ministry of Environment was used to inform COPE on the progress of the National Initiative to manage Post Use Plastic Waste.

The Cabinet of Ministers had approved the National Policy on Waste management on October 10, 2019; however it had not been implemented, COPE commented.