By dumping recyclable plastic indiscriminately, the country loses $890 million a year, Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga said in her speech during the celebration of Earth Day.
The country produces around 2.7 million tons of plastic waste each year, with most of it ending in landfills, dumpsites, rivers, and water supply systems. “However, about 20 percent of this ends up in our oceans. Over and above our organic waste, plastic for our market needs, food wrapping and packaging for our consumers all make up the 61,000 metric tons of solid waste we produce daily,” she said.
“On a daily basis, we consume plastics in the fish caught in the seas, through the substandard water bottles we use, and in the very air we breathe. Microplastics have been found in raindrops and are being studied for their impact on clouds and climate change,” she added.
To address the issue, she said government passed the Extended Producer Responsibility Act of 2022 or the EPR Law, which shifts the burden of collecting used plastic from local governments to the producers and manufacturers.
She however stressed that government and corporations cannot do it alone, and that the transformation towards a plastics-free world begins at home.
Loyzaga pointed out that many are unaware plastics have traditionally been made from oil, natural gas, or coal – the very fossil fuel sources that have driven climate change.
When it comes to plastic waste, Filipinos should have a lot of options, starting from the 3 Rs: reduce, reuse, recycle. At this point, considering all the plastic waste our nation is producing as the sachet capital of the world, the focus should be on reducing usage, which will only happen if government, business, and the general public decide together that the way we use and dispose of plastics is simply unsustainable and take appropriate and immediate action. That way, whatever is left, we can either reuse or recycle.
If we can do that, our contribution to the planet can go from being a top producer of plastic waste to being a model for others to follow.*
