BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Extended Producers’ Responsibility bill, which lapsed into law, is now Republic Act No. 11898.
Negros Occidental 3rd District Rep. Jose Francisco Benitez, a member of the Bicameral Conference Committee that consolidated similar EPR bills passed by the Senate and the House during the 18th Congress, said that the EPR Law shares the local government units’ responsibility of waste recovery with plastic manufacturers.
Under this law, Benitez also said that plastic producers are mandated to recover, collect and clean-up plastics so that plastic waste does not leak into the environment and harm ecosystems.
This is aimed towards plastic neutrality and a circular economy, he added.
The law introduces the concept of EPR and a circular economy and mandates the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to formulate a national framework on EPR for all types of waste.
It mandates targets on the recovery of plastic wastes initially and requires large enterprises or those above micro, small and medium enterprise levels to set up an EPR program within six months from effectivity of the act.
These programs are intended to achieve plastic neutrality through efficient management of plastic packaging waste, reduced production, importation supply or use of plastic packaging deemed low in reusability, retrievability or recyclability.
It sets rising targets for plastic recovery each year until 2028 when these enterprises are expected to achieve 80 percent neutrality.*
