THE Philippines and Norway have called for the promotion of the deposit return systems (DRS) to help the former achieve its target of 80-percent plastic waste recovery by 2028.
According to the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Manila, the country ranks third in the world in ocean-plastics pollution, where waste flows directly into the ocean and causes environmental problems on a global scale.
As such, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) issued early this year the implementing rules and regulations of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Act of 2022 requiring large-scale firms to conduct proper and effective recovery, treatment, recycling or disposal of their products.
A World Bank report in 2021 revealed that the Philippines produces an estimated 3 million tons of plastics that find their way in the oceans yearly, with single-use sachets contributing 52 percent of the total waste.
The introduction of DRS, the embassy explained, can boost the country’s circular economy, where consumers can refund deposits from plastic products upon the return of their packaging at an accessible collection point.
It said that DRS is an effective tool in influencing consumer behavior toward solid-waste management by incentivizing the act of returning beverage containers. The system helps prevent bottles and cans from ending up in oceans, streets and landfills by providing economic incentives to consumers when the containers are returned for reuse or recycling.
Successful scheme
THE Royal Norwegian Embassy and the DENR hosted a workshop on June 14 which highlighted success stories and solutions from Norway, Germany, Australia and Estonia as examples of the world’s top-performing DRS schemes for the EPR policy.
DRS has been proven effective in reducing the level of plastic pollution, more so on beverage containers, in areas where it has been successfully rolled out.
High-performing DRS can also significantly accelerate the circularity of beverage containers like plastic bottles and aluminum cans with high recovery rates. Within the EPR Act, producers are incentivized to rethink the design of their products to achieve sustainable resource management.
Ambassador Christian Halaas Lyster opened the forum by sharing DRS’s important role in improving the Philippines’s index in the circular economy: “Norway was one of the first countries in the world to establish this kind of scheme [as early as 1902, and the introduction of ‘reverse vending machines’ in the 1970s].”
Lyster added that the Scandinavian nation currently records one of the highest total recycling return rates, which in 2021 stood at 92.3 percent for both cans and plastic bottles. It is expected to reach a collection rate of 93 percent in the coming years.
“Norwegian technology and solutions can assist the Philippines in achieving its national and international commitments toward waste reduction, marine-litter prevention, and carbon-emission savings,” added the ambassador. “This will propel the country toward sustainable development and postpandemic green recovery.”
The panel was joined by esteemed experts from World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Reclay Group managing director Dr. Fritz Flanderka, TOMRA vice president for Public Affairs and Head of Asia operations Annupa Ahi, Reloop director Robert Kelman, as well as Earth Care consulting partner and consultant Rauno Raal.
The workshop facilitated an in-depth discussion of the Philippines’s current state of EPR, EPR best practices, designing EPR policies with policy framework considerations, ways the country can adapt these policies to address plastic pollution, increase recycling, and move away from linear take-make-dispose models.
“With the enactment of the EPR act of 2022, the Philippines has taken a significant step toward [implementing] modern waste management,” mentioned Dr. Flanderka. “This must now be consistently implemented and further developed. In this context, DRS is an effective approach to closing recycling loops.”
Numerous benefits
THE embassy pointed out that DRS creates a closed and clean loop when producing better quality materials. It not only facilitates high collection rates, but also provides clean materials for recycling.
Without contamination, containers can be most efficiently recycled into new bottles and cans. This way, DRS provides the beverage industry, which struggles to manufacture containers with more recycled content due to a lack of high-quality and food-grade material, with optimal resources for the re-production of containers. In fact, the higher the collection rate, the higher the quality of the materials in the loop—meaning the more times that material can be used in new containers.
For every 100 “virgin” bottles produced, a DRS with a 90-percent collection rate makes it possible to produce a total of 208 bottles. In Germany, for instance, the collection rate stands at 98 percent.
“The [DRS business model neither depends] in any way on financial support from government, nor does it solely rely on the beverage industry,” according to Raal. He said that DRS is a unique solution where, in addition to industry fee, its revenues cover unredeemed deposits and material sales to operate the system.
DRS finances are innovative, utilizing collected materials sales revenue and non-environmentally friendly consumer behavior, in the manner of creating unredeemed deposits, to cover its costs.
“It is heartening to see the intentions and work initiated by the Philippine government [in implementing serious and effective solutions for waste management. It] essentially will play a strong role in laying a robust framework by way of policies and mandates,” concluded Ahi.
Image credits: Embassy of Norway