Degradable polythene bags

It’s in the bag

Now you can carry your groceries home in these degradable siri siri bags and feel a little less guilty about harming the environment. Marisa de Silva finds out more

Mr. Mervyn Dias, chairman of Plastic Pakaging Pvt. Ltd. presents a sample of the degradable bag to Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Rukman Senanayake. This bag will be distributed free with today’s issue of The Sunday Times and Sunday Lankadeepa.

Environment friendly plastic bags? Ever thought you'd see them? Well, that day has finally dawned, with a local firm Plastic Pakaging (Pvt.) Ltd., having spearheaded the production of degradable bags earlier this year.

Having been in the plastic packaging business for the past 13 years, Chairman of Plastic Pakaging, Mervyn Dias, says that after conducting research on this project over the past four years, they finally made a breakthrough in May this year. This was their first batch of exports to the UK, he adds. The key objective behind this project was to reduce the environment hazard posed by non-degradable plastic bags being scattered all over the place.

This plastic packaging has also been tested and approved by Rapra Technology, UK, to package food items, in accordance with European Union regulations. Tests have also been conducted locally by the Industrial Technological Institute (ITI) and in the USA. They import the additive PDQH from the States, which is the main component that aids the degrading process.

Not only laboratory but also extensive field testing was done on these bags, says Mr. Dias, as they had to guarantee that the bags were completely degradable. The average lifetime of the bags varies from between 6-9 months in a tropical country and about 12 months in cooler climates like the UK, he says.

The 40-strong workforce help in the production, quality testing and packaging processes at the factory. They produce both degradable and non-degradable plastic bags, food covers, etc., depending on the preference of the clients, adds Mr. Dias.

Mainly dealing with the international market, Dias says that they have encouraged other interested companies by promoting degradable bags locally. The Cargills chain is already using them. He adds, that any interested party could either access their website on www.ppsrilanka.com or e-mail him on ppp@eureka.lk