The Central Environmental Authority (CEA) to coincide with the World Environment Day which falls on June 5 will establish 97 e-waste collecting centres countrywide to collect electrical and electronic e-waste items.
The e-waste items will be collected at 28 centres in the Western Province, 39 centres in the Southern Province, 14 centres in Northern Province and 16 centres in the Uva Province.
Thereafter the collected e-waste will be sent overseas through registered e-waste collectors in Sri Lanka to destroy them in selected locations under systematic conditions without causing any harm to the land, the fauna and flora or the ocean environment.
Accordingly, people are requested to dump their e-waste including CFL and tube bulbs, monitors, all kinds of used electronic equipment, unused home appliances etc. at these e-waste collecting centres before June 3 and 4.
The CEA reports indicate that a large quantity of e-waste is added to the environment by people everyday and these non-degradable objects have become a serious threat to the land and ocean environment in the country.
Speaking to the Daily News, CEA Chairman, Venura Fernando said at the initial step the selected e-waste will be recycled in Sri Lanka before handing over them to registered e-waste collectors to destroy them in selected locations abroad.
He said the main objective of this programme is to keep the environment clean and tidy without leaving any non- degradable item.
The CEA Chairman further said in addition to this, the CEA has also instructed countrywide polythene paper manufacturers to manufacture only less than 20 micron lunch sheets and polythene bags since they easily degrade in the environment.
Ananda Kannangara
