THE Mandaue City Government will soon require big plastic manufacturing companies to establish a mechanism to recover their products from consumers to reduce plastic waste, an official said.
The initiative will be discussed with the Mandaue City Council, in particular with City Councilor Jennifer del Mar, chairman of the committee on environment, according to architect Araceli Barlam, head of the Mandaue City Environment Natural Resources Office (MCENRO), on Wednesday, August 2, 2023.
Though still unable to say how many plastic-producing companies are in Mandaue City, Barlam said they may propose an ordinance to implement the initiative, which will be patterned after Republic Act 11898 or the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Act of 2022 and implemented with the supervision of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
“Ang problema nato kay ang mga tawo nga mogamit og plastic sometimes magpataka og labay, di matarong og dispose. So, we’re hoping alignment with the EPR law sa national level mosuporta ang siyudad pinaagi pud sa atong ordinansa pod nga ang plastic nga gigamit nato dili magpataka og labay,” said Barlam.
(Our problem is that people who use plastic sometimes just throw it away anywhere so it is not properly disposed of. So we are hopeful that the city would support the EPR law through our ordinance to ensure that the plastics we use are disposed of properly).
“We are meeting with MCCI (Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry) late this month for a consultation meeting regarding compliance with the national law and framework for the local ordinance to align with the law,” she said.
However, Barlam said not all provisions of the EPR law can be applied locally.
Large firms
Under the EPR law, large companies have the responsibility for the proper and effective recovery, treatment, recycling or disposal of their products after they have been sold and used by consumers to reduce the volume of plastic waste generation and extend the life of plastics by adding value or purpose through upcycling or recycling.
Medium-scale enterprises are also encouraged but not forced to follow the policy.
The law covers plastic packaging used to carry, protect or pack goods for transportation, distribution, or sale, including sachets, labels, laminates and other flexible plastic, whether single-layer or multi-layered with other materials.
Private firm
In September 2018, the Mandaue City Government inked an agreement with private firm Guun Corp. to recycle used plastics.
According to MCENRO data, the facility collected more residual garbage from the city at 14.6 tons per day during the months of January through June of 2023, than it did during the entire year of 2022 at 13.2 tons per day.
The city also enacted an ordinance in 2010 requiring business establishments, including restaurants and sari-sari stores, to use paper bags, cloth bags, eco-bags and reusable bags, instead of plastic bags, except for those selling wet goods and construction materials.
Violators will be fined P500 or imprisoned up to five days or both depending on the court’s discretion.
Additionally, Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes mandated the strengthening of waste segregation in 2021, aside from the city’s strict implementation of the “no segregation, no collection” policy.