ENVIRONMENTAL groups in Tacloban City continued to campaign for the passage of the proposed measure on "regulating the use of plastic bags and prohibiting the use of polystyrene for food products" in the city.
"We have attended a public consultation on this with representatives from different stakeholders, including the business sector," said 21-year-old Ronan Renz Napoto, convenor of Youth Strike for Climate Philippines in Tacloban.
Napoto said that Waste 360 Philippines, Greenpeace, and other environmental organizations are supporting the legislation being pushed by Councilor Aimee Grafil, the environmental committee chairperson and the principal author of the proposed ordinance.
According to Napoto, they also made a "brand audit" last year "as a form of statement supporting the passage of this legislation emphasizing the big amount of waste collected in selected areas and the percentage of the different kinds of single-use plastic waste."
Two public hearings were already conducted for the said ordinance.
Tacloban Vice Mayor Jerry Yaokasin added that they are "still waiting for the committee report to be submitted to the Sanggunian."
"Tacloban City currently faces a dilemma in the improper accumulation of plastic objects and particles around and surrounding the city, including in the landfills, in establishments, and in major tourist attractions. The proposed ordinance guarantees for the resolution and diminution of the said ecologic issue and predicament through collective actions of the people, including herein petitioners," read an online campaign hosted by Greenpeace, which expressed support to the proposed measure.
"The proposed ordinance is beneficial in curbing consumer behaviors towards the recyclable use of plastic containers. As consumers, herein petitioners are aware and fully understand all the duties, responsibilities and accountability towards the achievement of the total renouncement on the single-use of plastics, as stipulated in the ordinance," it added.
Green advocate Dennise Recuerdo, who created the said online campaign, said that "based on the data collected through the brand audit headed by Waste 360, 30 percent of the wastes audited were plastic bags."
"A total of 4,703 pieces of plastic bags were audited. It is important to contextualize the scale each of corporations' contribution with reference to plastic bags. On its own, plastic bags are 30 percent of all wastes. This can be addressed locally through implementing effective ordinances that end the use of plastic bags in Tacloban City, and hopefully, the rest of the country," stated the online campaign.
The environmental groups, however, expressed confidence that Tacloban will soon be like the cities of Pampanga and Paranaque which already have plastic ban ordinances.
A recent survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed that 71 percent of Filipinos expressed strong support for a nationwide ban on single-use plastics at all times due to worsening global plastic pollution.
In a survey, commissioned by the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), sando bags topped the list with 71 percent, plastic straws and stirrers (66 percent), plastic labo bags (65 percent), styrofoam or polystyrene food containers (64 percent), sachets (60 percent), doy pack for juices (59 percent), plastic drinking cups (56 percent), cutlery such as plastic spoons and forks (54 percent), plastic bottles for juice (49 percent), and plastic bottles for water (41 percent).
As seven of 10 Filipinos are willing to buy food condiments, such as oil, soy sauce, and vinegar, in refillable containers rather than sachets, various groups and companies have launched some innovations to regulate plastic use.
In 2019, condiments maker NutriAsia Inc. launched a refilling initiative known as "Bring Your Own Bottle" to encourage consumers to reuse their clean plastic and glass bottles.
The campaign also focused on collecting plastic materials, including empty sachets and snack packs, that would be used to produce chairs and other furnishings for a local high school.
According to Froilan Grate, executive director of GAIA Asia-Pacific, the survey results showed "the public's increasing awareness of the plastic waste problem."
"Plastic pollution is an important issue for Filipino consumers. They are willing to sacrifice convenience and are already looking into refill options and other alternative systems. They expect our government leaders to address the plastic pollution crisis and go beyond lip service by banning single-use plastics in the whole country," Grate said in a statement.
The survey also showed how Filipino consumers hoped that companies "will use or find alternative materials to plastic to lessen plastic waste in the country."
Earlier, President Rodrigo Duterte considered the idea to ban the use of plastics.
However, Duterte has yet to come up with a decision on the substitute materials for single-use plastics.
Based on a 2015 report on plastic pollution by the Ocean Conservancy charity and the McKinsey Centre for Business and Environment, the Philippines ranked third-largest source of plastic that ends up in the oceans, following China and Indonesia.
China, however, proposed to end the single-use plastic by 2025. (SunStar Philippines)