EPR law to boost province’s waste management campaign

By John Noel E. Herrera

As Republic Act No. 11898 or the Extended Producer Responsibility Act of 2022 lapses into law, the Iloilo Provincial Government said the law will help in its waste management campaign.

Atty. Cesar Emmanuele Buyco Jr., Provincial Government Environment and Natural Office (PENRO) head, said RA 11898 mandates all large companies to recover the plastic packaging wastes they produce or use.

“We are happy with the law, and more importantly on its effects on our solid waste management problem. This Extended Producer Responsibility Act will greatly reduce the solid waste footprint of our large companies, especially the manufacturers,” Buyco said.

He also said that the law will result in better changes if big enterprises, medium and small-scale producers, and houses will be given help in lessening their wastes.

Buyco said landfills could not anymore accommodate the volume of wastes if the public does not resort to solid waste management.

Iloilo province produces around 300 tons of solid waste every day.

With the law, the companies included in the ERP now have to make sure that the materials and waste they produce do not end up in landfills or in the surroundings but should be reused or recycled.

The EPR law is the first amendment to the two-decade-old Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.

The law requires large enterprises, or businesses with a total asset worth more than P100 million to recover a certain portion of their plastic packaging waste.

The Extended Producer Responsibility Act of 2022 or RA 11898 lapsed into law on July 23, 2022 as neither former president Rodrigo Duterte nor President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed it 30 days after receipt from the Congress.

Meanwhile, a coalition of environmental groups called on Marcos to veto the then EPR bill as it has limitations in answering the problems on the use of plastic and other wastes.