The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved on third and final reading a bill banning single-use plastics.
Voting 190 affirmative, zero negative vote, and one abstention, lawmakers passed House Bill 9147 to protect life on land and water from the hazards posed by plastic pollution, and ensure that non-compostable single-use synthetic plastic products deemed necessary to society do not leak into nature.
The bill phases out, within a year, the production, importation, sale, distribution, provision, and use of single-use plastic drinking straw, stirrers, candy stick, ballon stick, cotton bud sticks, buntings, confetti, and packaging/bags less than 10 microns thick.
It also phases out within four years tableware, film wrap, packaging or bags less than 50 microns thick, sachets and pouches, oxodegradable plastic and styropor food and beverage containers.
The measure penalizes violators with fines ranging from P50,000 up to P500,000 fro micro enterprises and 250,000 up to P1 million for larger businesses.
It mandates the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to formulate within 6 months a phase-out plan on single-use plastic wastes, with components on reducing consumption, increasing recovery, keeping producers accountable, developing alternatives, and raising awareness.
It shall also obligate commercial establishments to promote reusable, recyclable, and retrievable products in their stores, charge P5 from customers for every plastic bag or single-use plastic used for take-out food or delivery service, and facilitate customer return of used plastic products to the store.
Antique Rep. Loren Legarda, one of the principal authors of the bill, appealed to the public to break free from their dependence on single-use plastic products, practice ecological solid waste management, lead a low-carbon lifestyle, and embrace green and sustainable living by using reusable utensils, cloth or native reusable bags made of organic or recycled materials, and reusable containers made of non-toxic and non-hazardous materials.
Legarda also noted that by patronizing these alternatives, “we are also promoting and supporting sustainable businesses and MSME initiatives while trying to restore our planet’s health.”
She said the Philippines is known for its rich marine ecosystems but is also one of the major sources of plastic trash in the world, contributing almost three million metric tons of plastic wastes and 500,000 metric tons of plastic waste leakage per year.
She added plastic production and incineration use petrochemicals from fossil fuel and thus contribute to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate change.
According to the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), Filipinos use 59.7 billion pieces of sachets, 17.5 billion pieces of shopping bags, 16.5 billion pieces of plastic labo bag, and 1.1 billion diapers yearly.
Earlier, Atty. Gloria Estenzo Ramos, vice president of Oceana Philippines explained that the regulation and phase-out of single-use plastics are already covered by Republic Act No. 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.
“What is lacking here is the implementation. We don’t need this [new] bill for the agencies to do their job because it’s already in Republic Act 9003,” she said.
Rampos pointed out that Republic Act 9003 mandates the National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC) to prepare, within one year from the effectivity of the law, the list of non-environmentally acceptable products (NEAPs) to be banned following a phase-out plan that will be developed in consultation with stakeholders.
However, she said 20 years since the law has passed, NSWMC has yet to develop a phase-out plan for NEAPs, which should include single-use plastics.