[OPINION] The urgent need for a national single-use plastic ban

[OPINION] The urgent need for a national single-use plastic ban

Multinational companies, big businesses, and developed nations continue to treat countries in the global south as plastic dumps. Break Free From Plastic (BFFP) has studied the top five consistent polluters for the past five years, and they are Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestlé, Unilever, and Mondelez International.

In the Philippines, the Solid Waste Management Act or RA 9003 is a landmark development in managing plastic and waste pollution. RA 9003 isn’t the only policy instrument against plastics. In fact, around 500 local governments, including Quezon City, Marikina City, and Davao City, have passed ordinances banning single-use plastics that have helped reduce local plastic waste.

Still, the plastic problem continues to persist. According to a recent Commission on Audit report, even after more than 20 years of passage of RA 9003, solid waste generation in the country has steadily increased from 9.07 million metric tons in 2000 to 16.63 million metric tons in 2020.

RA 9003 mandates the National Solid Waste Management Commission to prepare and publicize a list of Non-Environmentally Acceptable Products and Packaging (NEAPP) that could have helped regulate plastic waste. After 20 years, the guidelines have yet to be made public.

On the other hand, RA 11898, the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Act, lapsed into law last July 2022. The law requires large companies (brand or product manufacturers and importers) to establish or phase-in EPR programs for plastic packaging to achieve efficient management of plastic packaging waste, reduced production, importation, supply or use of plastic packaging deemed low in reusability, recyclability or retrievability, and plastic neutrality through efficient recovery and diversion schemes. EPR may legitimize false solutions like incineration and cement kilns – that should not be used in EPR recovery and recycling as it harms the environment and human health. Plastic pollution requires more than extended producer responsibility. Plastic production reduction should have been stressed.

The said limitations make it more crucial than ever to push for a comprehensive national single-use plastic ban to put in place a systemic mechanism to curb plastic waste. There have also been several bills filed in both the lower and upper houses to cut down on plastic waste.

The most recent policy development is Senator Loren Legarda’s Senate Bill 246, “An Act Regulating the Manufacturing, Importation, and Use of Single-use Plastic Products, and Providing Penalties, Levies, and Incentives System for Industries, Business Enterprises, and Consumers Thereof.”

The bill “provides an ambitious yet comprehensive approach to solving the single-use plastics problem, which involves actions from national and local governments, industries, business enterprises, and consumers for the manufacturing, selling, use, recycling, and disposal of all single-use plastics in the Philippines.”

Highlight of the bill calls for national and local government, industry, and multi-stakeholder solutions to single-use plastics. To support Republic Act No. 9003, the proposed measure includes research and technology development for single-use plastic alternatives and recycling and disposal center strengthening. Senate Bill 246 is a leap, should it be passed into law, to guard against harmful systems of consumption and production that generate plastic waste.

However, policy change is just one of the many fronts on which to fight for a system shift towards a plastic-free Pilipinas. Building collective power among impacted sectors and communities holds the key to following the path toward zero waste, seeking corporate accountability, exposing and opposing false solutions and greenwashing, and pushing for environmental justice and a just transition. – Rappler.com

Coleen Salamat is a plastic solutions campaigner of EcoWaste Coalition, a public interest and advocacy network promoting sustainable solutions to waste, chemical, and climate change issues.