The people are urged to give up taking floral decorations to cemeteries on Low Sunday. Such a practice can cause considerable damage to the environment and the people. In a press release, the Ministry of Environment says the artificial flowers eliminate a large quantity of toxic substances, polluting the soil and air, and colorants that contain heavy metals can reach groundwater. Cancerous substances are eliminated in the burning process. Their burning is banned and is punished by law.

The Ministry said that to avoid the storage of plastic objects together with household waste, the local authorities and managers of cemeteries should separately collect the waste so that it is taken for recycling. Therefore, recipients with special markings should be placed on the territory of cemeteries to collect plastic items and artificial decorations.

The responsible authorities should inform the citizens about the way in which the artificial decorations should be collected and stored. Planting of multiannual decorative flowers is a beneficial alternative.

About 700 tonnes of waste that consists mainly of artificial floral compositions and wreaths are annually collected at Saint Lazarus Cemetery alone. As a result, the negative impact on the environment is inevitable given that the petrochemical products can decay during up to 500 years.

As the quantity of plastic waste increases, the Ministry of Environment calls on the local authorities to restrict the sale of plastic decorations near cemeteries, in concert with the representatives of religious organizations.