Plastic per se is not the problem. Mismanagement or improper disposal of plastic is the culprit of the world’s plastic waste problem.
Plastic is a unique material with many benefits: it’s cheap, versatile, lightweight, and resistant. This makes it a valuable material for many functions. It can also provide environmental benefits through certain supply chains as it plays a critical role in maintaining food quality, safety and preventing waste.
The trade-offs between plastics and substitutes (or complete bans) are therefore complex and could create negative knock-on environmental impacts.
That’s why members of the Philippine Chamber of Food Manufacturers, Inc. (PCFMI) were one in saying no to the total ban of plastics including the one-time-use materials.
For the group of local food manufacturers which uses plastic packages on their products, plastic per se is not the problem. The mismanagement/improper disposal of plastic is the culprit of the world’s plastic waste problem according to them as validated by the studies presented during the group’s annual membership meeting in September this year.
But being an urgent environmental issue, PCFMI Chairman and President Elizabeth M. De Leon-Lim, called for collaborative actions toward the complex and urgent issue of plastic wastes.
“We believe that collaborative and collective actions toward the complex and urgent issue of plastic wastes are necessary, requiring the involvement of all stakeholders in the public and the private sectors,” she said.
Although the Philippines is ranked third highest source of ocean plastic pollution, next to China and Indonesia, the country has one of the best ordinances when it comes to abating plastic waste. Republic Act (RA) 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 was crafted in response to the looming garbage problems in the country. It was passed by the Philippine Congress on December 20, 2000, and was subsequently approved by the Office of the President on January 26, 2001.
RA 9003 declares the policy of the state in adopting a systematic, comprehensive and ecological solid waste management program that ensures the protection of public health and the environment and the proper segregation, collection, transport, storage, treatment and disposal of solid waste through the formulation and adoption of best environmental practices. Moreover, it illustrates the potentials and benefits of recycling not only in addressing waste management problems but also in alleviating poverty.
In relation to ocean clean up drives and rehabilitation, the country also holds several successful projects including the Boracay Island rehab and the Manila Bay cleanup program. Private groups and individuals, together with government agencies tasked for these programs, mainly, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the local government units (LGUs) regularly conduct coastal cleanups.
One of the favorite venues for coastal cleanup is the Las Piñas-Parañaque Critical Habitat & Eco-Tourism Area (LPPCHEA). The Wetland Park is a 175-hectares mangrove forest and marine habitat that serves as a sanctuary for 84 bird species, including migratory birds from as far as Siberia. It is the breeding site of the vulnerable Philippine Duck and supports at least 1,000 of the remaining 100,000 remaining Black-Winged Stilts in the world.
Established in 2007, LPPCHEA is a nature reserve of mangroves, ponds, lagoons, mudflats, salt marshes, and mixed beach forest which has been the site of many cleanup activities of various individuals and groups.
According to Joey Petras who works as farmworker for LPPCHEA under DENR-Paranaque, hundreds of sack of rubbish are collected almost every week by volunteers. He said the garbage in the area used to be taller than his 5-feet-8-inch frame when he started as a farmworker in 2010. Today, the DENR has five farm workers and 17 bakawan warriors for the upkeep of the area.
A recent cleanup activity at LLPCHEA by key officers and employees of AllHome Corporation, numbering 150, in September this year, gathered a total of 155 sacks of rubbish which is equivalent to 1,421.7 kilos of trash composed mainly of plastic, rubber, styrofoam, glass and assorted items. The DENR Team headed the weighing of the rubbish which was turned over to Paranaque office. Recyclable items would be turned over to individuals and groups who are into producing new items from the waste products according to DENR.
Global efforts towards plastic pollution
In September 2018, a group of the world’s most influential business leaders, policymakers, environmental experts and civil society advocates came together at the World Economic Forum’s 2018 Sustainable Development Impact summit for a frank discussion on plastic waste and pollution which had become a global crisis.
Accordingly, everyone in the forum recognized it was time to turn promises and platitudes into concrete and swift action – and to create a unified platform to drive and amplify this action at an unprecedented level. Thus, the Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP) was born forging powerful alliances.
Plastic production sky-rocketed in the early 2000s—including single-use plastic packaging—resulting in mismanaged plastic waste. The world currently generates 300 million tons of plastic waste each year, without the capacity, infrastructure and collective willpower needed to sustainably manage it. That’s why 8 million tons of plastic waste flow into the ocean annually, while mismanaged waste remaining on land can trigger public health crises among vulnerable communities.
Recognizing the extent to which their products have contributed to the ballooning plastic pollution crisis, many of the world’s leading companies are pledging to do better. Four of GPAP’s founding partners – Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Dow, and Nestlé – are pivoting towards more sustainable ways of doing business. Coca-Cola has pledged to adopt 100 percent recyclable packaging by 2025, for instance, while Dow is financing waste management initiatives aiming to reduce total global plastic leakage by 45 percent.
Likewise, Marriott International, the world’s largest hotel chain, recently announced it would stop supplying plastic toiletries to guests by 2020. While Amazon committed to eliminating single-use plastic packaging across its operations in India.
In March this year, GPAP met a major milestone: Indonesia became the first country to officially sign on as a national partner. The world’s second-largest contributor to plastic pollution in oceans, the government of Indonesia committed to several ambitious targets including reducing 70 percent of its marine debris by 2025.
This October, GPAP will formally launch its first engagement in Africa: a partnership with the government of Ghana. The country’s dizzying economic growth has come at the expense of unsustainable plastic pollution and mismanaged waste, but it has also shown exceptional leadership and resolve to catalyze a new era of plastic management across West Africa.
And in November 2019, GPAP will launch its third national partnership with the government of Viet Nam, which will assume chairmanship of ASEAN next year, through supporting its efforts to spark plastic action nationally and across the broader region.
Despite the ongoing global activities, GPAP provided a harrowing statistic: “that by 2050, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish.” But the group also promised on one thing: “We’re close to completing a blueprint to effectively tackle the plastic pollution crisis in our ocean and communities – and we’re piloting the approach in a few locations to test it and learn from it.”
Image credits: Roy Domingo
1 comment
Very good site you have here but I was curious if you knew of any
message boards that cover the same topics discussed in this article?
I’d really love to be a part of group where I can get advice from
other experienced individuals that share the same interest.
If you have any suggestions, please let me know. Thanks!