THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) 7 targets to sign up at least 70 companies in Metro Cebu this month that would comply with the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Act of 2022, which holds companies responsible for managing the impact of their product packaging over their full life cycle.
DENR 7 Director Ma. Victoria Abrera said they will still collaborate with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) 7 to jointly identify businesses, particularly in Metro Cebu, that fall under the category of obligated enterprises mandated to comply with the EPR Law.
The EPR Act of 2022 mandates companies with more than P100 million in assets (excluding land) to develop a scheme to recover the same amount of plastics they produce or face a fine of at least P5 million.
Companies shall be responsible for allocating resources to support the collection, recovery, transportation, processing, recycling and disposal of plastic packaging wastes in environmentally sound ways.
The EPR law sets incremental targets that should be fulfilled yearly until 2030. For 2023, obliged companies must recover 20 percent of their plastic footprint from the year before.
Producers, distributors and retailers implementing initiatives under the EPR laws will be eligible for tax incentives.
Nationwide the DENR and DTI have identified approximately 4,000 companies covered by the EPR Law. The DENR’s goal is to sign up at least 1,000 registrants this year.
To help companies understand what EPR is and how they might undertake an EPR program, the DENR has been holding webinars and workshops with various industry associations to spread awareness about the EPR Law and its provisions, as well as the EPR registration process.
“We are here to assist. We have EPR clinics. We can help you with the procedures on how to register and we can guide you on the requirements of the EPR law. Together, if we can help each other, perhaps at the end of the day, we can comply with the provisions of the law,” said DENR’s Undersecretary for Policy, Planning and International Affairs Jonas Leones.
The DENR, together with Nestle Philippines, held the second leg of the “Rethinking Plastics: EPR Paving the Way Towards Circularity” discussion on Sept. 22, 2023 in Mandaue City, Cebu with the aim of encouraging more obliged companies to register their EPR programs.
The first roadshow was conducted in Manila and the third one will be in Cagayan de Oro City on Oct. 6.
Leones said since the DENR’s EPR campaign launch in August, there has been an increase in EPR submissions from 667 to 709 as of mid-September.
DENR Undersecretary Annaliza Teh assured companies that they will be given a sufficient period to adjust to their EPR, duties and responsibilities and to improve their EPR performance.
“Together with the government, is to really design your EPR program in a way that considers your capacity and your vision. And for you to be able to do that, you have to have your heart and commitment to it, for it to become a viable program,” she said.
Leones said there is urgency in implementing the EPR Law, especially since the volume of plastic waste in communities is increasing every day.
According to the 2021 report of the World Bank Group, the Philippines generates a staggering 2.7 million tons of plastic waste annually, 20 percent of which winds up in the ocean, much of it in the form of unrecyclable, single-use sachets.
As an early advocate and adopter of EPR in the country, Jose Uy III, senior vice president and head of corporate affairs of Nestlé Philippines, said companies should look at the EPR Law as an investment, not a cost, with a good reward in the end.
As a voluntary form of EPR, Nestlé PH has been fully plastic-neutral for three years. It has recovered over 52 million kilos of plastic waste as of July 2022, equivalent to the volume of plastic packaging it put out in the market.
“We believe that we will be rewarded by discerning consumers, especially the youth. They are very idealistic when they want to belong to a company that has a purpose and that’s good for the environment and we recognize this. Also, we want to be the most sought-after company to work with… So it’s good that when you commit to sustainability, it opens up a lot of opportunities in terms of employee attraction,” said Uy, adding that committing to programs that affect the environment affects a myriad of stakeholders, even confidence from shareholders.
Since the passage of the EPR Law, the Philippines has been included in a select group of states that promulgate EPR which includes the United States, Canada, Japan, Singapore, India, South Korea, Chile, Mexico, Columbia, Peru and Brazil.