THE Philippines is one of the top producers of plastic waste in the world, with much of the uncollected garbage ending up in bodies of water from rivers to lakes and oceans.
In the past, environmental groups blamed poor solid waste management. Today, the blame is shifting to manufacturers, for failing to come up with measures to prevent their product packaging from polluting our water bodies, if not coming up with more environment-friendly packaging materials.
In the Philippines, a few companies are seriously taking up the challenge of accepting the responsibility for plastic waste.
One example: Coca-Cola Philippines’ World Without Waste—a global sustainable packaging initiative to support a circular economy and eliminate plastic waste through the continual use of the packaging as a valuable resource— is now on its fourth year. With it, the company touts its compliance with the recently enacted Extended Producers’ Responsibility (EPR) law which many hope would help address the country’s ocean plastic waste problem.
State-of-the-art recycling facility
A world-class bottle-to-bottle recycling facility making use of advanced recycling technologies is now 100 percent operational in General Trias, Cavite. This, through PETValue Philippines, a partnership between Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines Inc. (CCBPI)—the bottling arm of Coca-Cola Philippines—and Thailand-based Indorama Ventures, a recognized global leader in packaging solutions and green technology.
The facility has a projected capacity of processing approximately 2 billion pieces of used clear PET plastic bottles—thus situating itself as a major contributor to a circular economy in the country, and in creating more direct and indirect job opportunities for Filipinos.
Clear plastic bottles—regardless of brand—that are collected from partners and collection points will be recycled at PETValue Philippines. The locally produced recycled PET resin straight from the facility will be used for Coca-Cola brands in recycled PET plastic packaging—thus creating a circular economy for the company’s packaging in the Philippines.
“We are extremely proud of PETValue Philippines and our partnership with Indorama Ventures, whose global expertise in recycling technologies will prove to be an asset to the Philippines’ collective goals for sustainability,” Gareth McGeown, President and CEO of Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines Inc., said during a speech marking the 4th year of World Without Waste held at the Blue Leaf Events Pavillion in Taguig City on October 14.
“Sustainability is at the heart of who we are as a company, as proven by more than a century of Coca-Cola treating the Philippines as its home. And it is through innovations like PETValue and strengthened sustainable practices that we will be here for another 100 years, serving Filipino communities.”
Promoting partnership
THROUGH its World Without Waste initiative, Coca-Cola Philippines brings positive change to individuals and small businesses such as sari-sari stores, waste collectors and junk shops, highlighting what can be achieved through partnerships—whether with the private sector, government units, or civil society.
The company has also partnered with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority to create TESDA-certified skills training programs that will help develop the competencies of workers in the waste sector.
The National Solid Waste Management Training Program for a World Without Waste (NSWMTP-WWW) is currently being piloted by TESDA in the municipal government of Angono, Rizal, which has committed the full participation of all its 10 barangays.
The company’s program with “Plastic Bank” has enabled the collection and recycling of almost 13.7 million PET plastic bottles—an undertaking that has simultaneously benefited the lives of informal waste collectors in Cavite.
Empowering communities
The initiative, meanwhile, also involved MSMEs to expand this network of collection points—through programs like Tapon to Ipon—Basta Klaro, Panalo! and Tindahan Extra Mile: Balik PET Bottle Program, empowering communities through recycling PET plastic bottles.
Likewise, there is a partnership with traditional trade outlets such as sari-sari stores and carinderias or eateries to become collection hubs, where community members can drop off used, clear PET plastic bottles and get incentives in return.
Significantly, the company announced that it will transition key brands Coca-Cola Original Taste and Wilkins Pure to 100-percent recycled PET plastic packaging (excluding caps and labels) by 2023.
These new packaging formats will expand the company’s line-up of products in recycled plastic packaging in the Philippines.
EPR Law of 2022
IN a speech, Sen. Cynthia Villar said the opening of the PET bottle recycling facility in the Philippines could not have come at a better time, with the EPR Act of 2022 or Republic Act 11898, which she principally authored, lapsing into law.
The EPR Act mandates large enterprises to be responsible for the proper and effective recovery, recycling or disposal of the plastic packaging on their products after the same has been sold and used by consumers. The goal: reduce the generation of packaging deemed non-environment friendly, improve the recyclability or reusability of plastic packaging waste, as well as promote the efficient waste recovery programs aimed at preventing plastic waste from leaking into the environment.
While saying the legislation is not in itself the solution to eliminate all the country’s plastic waste, Villar said it is certainly a big step in the right direction.
According to Villar, the chairman of the committee on environment and natural resources, the world is in the middle of a climate emergency, and not only does every individual have the obligation to reduce his or her own footprint, but also to find strategic interventions to drastically redeem what would have been valuable materials from the waste stream.
“Cradle-to-grave management of products is no longer sufficient. Responsibility must begin at product conceptualization before it even sees production,” she said.
Around the world, Villar noted, there is abundant evidence that EPRs have allowed municipalities and taxpayers to deflect the financial burden of waste management and transferred it to producers.
“The public costs of hauling and disposal were reduced. More importantly, EPR systems have resulted in decreased volumes of waste for final disposal and ushered in a thriving recycling industry,” she pointed out.
Better policy
ACCORDING to Villar, the EPR law introduces a better policy than simply expecting citizens to segregate and manage their waste, and let the local governments in scattered settlements and islands deal with the massive problems brought about by the lack of legal responsibility among the top producers of plastic waste. More importantly, she said, EPR requires manufacturers to reach collection targets, and hopefully, what is collected will no longer find their way back to the environment as unmanaged waste.
“The EPR Law places responsibility for products squarely on the shoulders of the manufacturer from cradle to grave. Hence I have to laud your company for not only looking at collection compliance but also developing ways in which your very packaging incorporates recycled material and uses less virgin plastic,” the senator said in her speech, addressing the facility’s proponents.
According to Villar, large enterprises should be able to recover and recycle a minimum of 20 percent of all packaging waste distributed for the year by the end of 2023. This target rises to 40 percent on the second year, 50 percent on the third year, and so on until 80 percent by 2028.
“It is actually my hope that your considerable resources will allow your industries to fast-track research and development, reach and breach these targets easily and go beyond mere compliance. When these very realistic targets are met or exceeded, EPR expenses will be deducted from taxable annual income,” she said.
Rapid development
IN her speech, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga highlighted the challenges faced by the Philippines as a rapidly developing country.
She said on top of the need to promote and ensure the implementation of the EPR law, the country is faced with the climate-change crisis, inconsistent degradation, biodiversity loss, and unsustainable production and consumption practices.
“And increasingly, waste generation is indeed our problem, and we have a solid waste management system that is struggling to cope,” she noted.
Plastic waste generation
THE waste regeneration and plastic waste in the Philippines on an annual basis is about 2.7 million tonnes. About 20 percent of such waste, she said, end up in the ocean.
“Our own DENR data shows the country is producing over 7,000 metric tonnes per day of plastic waste. Addressing this pressing issue needs a comprehensive approach, involving many stakeholders from government agencies, corporations, local governments, especially cities, and consumers themselves,” she said.
Yulo-Loyzaga said that as the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act has faced its own set of implementation challenges, there’s a need for strong policy direction and action toward the effective implementation of a circular economy.
Opportunity for collaboration
THE recent enactment of the Extended Producers Responsibility Act, she said, poses a further opportunity to collaborate to combat the environmental damages caused by plastic pollution and climate change.
“EPR is an environmental approach and practice that requires producers, as you know, to be environmentally responsible throughout the life cycle of the product, especially its post-consumer or end-of-life stage. The DENR is now working very hard to formulate implementing rules and regulations. We will be reporting to our boss, Senator Villar, at the Senate environmental committee this November,” she said.
According to Yulo, the DENR has adopted a national plan of action for the prevention, reduction and management of marine litter to enhance current efforts in resource and waste management and control the additional leakage of waste into our environment.
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