Ban of single-use plastics gaining ground in gov’t offices, health facilities, airports and ports

If you happen to have a transaction in certain government offices, or passing through our airports and ports during travel, you should not see plastic cups, drinking straws, coffee stirrers, spoons, knives, and labo or thin-filmed plastic bags due to their policy banning these single-use plastics in their premises.

International marine conservation organization Oceana cites the efforts of the government agencies that issued the memorandum circular on February 2, 2024, banning single-use plastics in their offices and other establishments within their premises: Department of Health (DOH), Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

“We congratulate the leaders of these government agencies for making this huge stride in addressing the plastic crisis.  Other government offices should follow this lead to help our environment recover from the mounting problem of plastic waste. Banning single-use plastics in the operations of these agencies will have significant impact not only in reducing plastic pollution but also in instilling behavioral change among their officials, staff and the general public,” said Atty. Gloria Estenzo Ramos, Oceana Vice President.

The circulars issued by these agencies were based on the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act or Republic Act 9003 and the National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC) Resolution No. 1363, Series of 2020, which directs the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to prepare and implement the banning single-use plastics in all national government agencies, local government units and all other government-controlled offices.

According to the World Bank 2021 report, Filipinos’ consumption of plastic sachets has reached at least 163 million pieces daily. The country annually generates 2.7 million tons of plastic waste, with about 20% polluting the ocean.

Partner government agencies prohibit the mentioned single-use plastic items during meetings, conferences, events, and other activities within the building premises and encouraged their staff and partners to participate in their “Bring Your Own Tumbler” campaign.

“We hope that this initiative will lead to the same policy that will ban single use plastics in all local government offices, considering that many of these have passed their own ordinances banning single use plastics in their towns. More importantly, this should drive the NSWMC under the leadership of the DENR to fully implement RA 9003,” said Ramos.

The Ecological Solid Waste Management Act was passed in 2001 which requires the Commission to submit an annual list of non-environmentally sound products and packaging materials. The Commission should submit a list of items that are “unsafe in production, use, post-consumer use, or that produce or release harmful by-products when discarded,” with single-use plastics on top of the list. Such a list makes it illegal to produce, use, and trade those in the items declared as non-environmentally acceptable products and packaging. This legal obligation has not been done, according to Ramos, and is now 23 years overdue.

Section 5 (p) of RA 9003 requires “the National Solid Waste Management Commission, after public notice and hearing, to formulate and update a list of Non-Environmentally Acceptable Products and Packaging Materials.”

“The law prohibits the manufacture, distribution or use of non-environmentally acceptable packaging materials and the importation of consumer products packaged in non-environmentally acceptable materials. With such a list, production of billions of single-use plastics, now the scourge of our oceans and marine creatures, would have halted two decades ago and avoided the irreversible damage to our marine and land resources and the health of our people,” Ramos added.