OVER 30 bills have been filed in Congress to address the worldwide problem of plastic wastes which are now accumulating in landfills and in the oceans, polluting the environment, adding inexorably to the volume of plastic wastes that will not degrade for over 450 years, threatening sea life and ultimately human life.
The Philippines has been identified as one of the principal sources of plastic wastes in the world’s oceans – the third behind China and Indonesia. The mounting volumes of plastic wastes include candy wrappers, plastic bottles and caps, sachets used in selling medicine, and juice stirrers and straws in restaurants,
Most of the bills filed in Congress focus on banning “single-use plastics” because of the sheer volume of these common polluters, but the fact is all plastics, single-use or not, end up polluting the environment when they are disposed of, gathering in volume over the years, since they are not biodegradable like paper, wood, cloth, leather, abaca, and other materials which the world used before the invention of plastics.
An outright ban on single-use plastics would end the use of sachets containing pills and other medicine purchased by poor folk who cannot afford to buy in quantity. Alternatives to plastics such as glass and metal are much more expensive. A paper container does not protect its contents well. Increased use of paper and wood would mean more trees cut down in our forests.
Instead of focusing on single-use plastics, a bill filed by Rep. Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro proposes a solution adopted by some other countries, called “extended product responsibility.” It calls on producers and importers of plastic packaging and other plastic products to collect the waste generated after the products are used. Each manufacturer would be required to collect a volume proportionate to the amount of plastic used in the products it sold to the public. Producers too small to set up their own collection systems may engage a “producer responsibility organization.” Producers seeking avoid the additional costs of collection will be encouraged to seek cheaper alternatives to plastic packaging.
With such a system in place, there will be an abundance of raw materials that recyclers can use to produce new products or new packaging. Waste plastic is already being used, for example, to make school chairs and for road construction.
We welcome the great interest our congressmen have shown in the need to solve the worldwide problem of plastic wastes. All possible working solutions should be encouraged and consolidated in a final bill in Congress, especially those that will make recycling more viable, such as the proposal for a system of collection with the principle of “extended product responsibility” in Congressman Rodriguez’s bill.
