THE leadership of the House of Representatives has vowed to prioritize the passage of legislation institutionalizing a nationwide ban on single-use plastic products when session resumes this month.
Bagong Henerasyon Rep. Bernadette Herrera said she filed House Bill 3338 banning the use of single-use plastic products to help curb plastic pollution.
The bill, along with several similar measures, has been pending with the House Committee on Ecology since August 2019.
“I’m glad Speaker Lord Allan Velasco and I are on the same page on the issue of plastic pollution,” Herrera said. “Having the support of no less than the Speaker, I don’t see any reason why the House should not pass the bill.”
President Duterte also expressed support for a nationwide ban on single-use plastics during a Cabinet meeting held last year.
Citing the 2015 report on plastic pollution by the Ocean Conservancy and the McKinsey Center for Business and Environment, the lawmaker said the Philippines was the third highest source of ocean plastic pollution with an estimated 2.7 million metric tons of plastic waste.
The United Nations, she added, has also estimated that land-based sources, including plastic waste blown into rivers and creeks by wind, are responsible for 80 percent of the world’s marine debris.
The lawmaker said single-use plastics, also referred to as disposable plastics, are commonly used for plastic packaging and include items intended to be used only once before they are thrown away or recycled. These include, among other items, grocery bags, food packaging, bottles, straws, containers, cups and cutlery.
Under the bill, Herrera wants the government to regulate the use of plastics by industries to save the environment.
This, as she underscored the need for an “all-encompassing nationwide policy against the use of various single-use plastic products that harm the environment.”
“By implementing a national policy against the use of single-use plastics, the state shall ensure the protection of the environment, prioritize the safety of its citizens, and prove sustainable development across all sectors,” she said.
Excise tax
The House Committee on Ways and Means has already endorsed for plenary approval the measure imposing an excise tax on single-use plastic, which could provide the government an additional P4.8 billion revenues.
However, the Philippine Plastics Industry Association Inc. (PPIA) President Willy Go told lawmakers that the proposal will hurt and eventually kill the industry.
Go said members of the industry are currently facing the negative impact of local ordinances banning the use of plastic bag in their areas.
Several local government units have already issued ordinances against the single-use plastic bags. For his part, Philippine Amalgamated Supermakets Association President Steven Cua said the proposal might hit the economy.
But Cua said big supermarkets can comply with the proposal but it will be difficult for small stores, which use thin single-use plastic bags.