PHL is world's 3rd top producer of plastic waste, senator warns

Sen. Cynthia Villar on Monday, April 3, expressed concern about the seemingly unrelenting wave of plastic garbage that the Philippines produces.

Citing a study from the University of Georgia entitled, "Plastic waste inputs from land into the seas," Villar told public and private stakeholders  that the Philippines ranked third out of 192 countries in terms of the most volume of plastic waste produced.

'We should be bothered'

She lamented that this was in spite of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2001 and despite the country's small population.

"Ang population ng China ay 1.2 billion, ang Indonesia ay 350 million. Mas malaki sila sa atin, pero tayo ay nasa 'honor roll'. We should be bothered about this," she said.

In Manila Bay alone, Villar decried the rampant mismanagement of waste, lamenting the proliferation of plastic as well as water lillies and even human excrement in the water.

Clean-ups not enough

She also said that clean-up efforts need to be stepped up. "It's only when we started doing clean-ups twice a month that we started to see a difference," she said.

But even then, she added, the influx of plastic waste seems unrelenting.

National Solid Waste Management Commission secretariat executive director Eligio Ildefonso said that at least part of the blame is on local government units, which had dragged their feet in implementing proper waste management plans.

LGUs dragged their feet

"Even before RA 9003, there was a local government code tasking LGUs to collect garbage (pero) ito siguro ang dahilan kung bakit ang daming nakakalat na basura: dahil walang plano," he said.

"For 13 years since the promulgation of RA 9003, napakababa ng local government compliance. (Until recently), walang ginagawa ang mga local government units in terms of complying with the mandatory requirement of segregation and putting up materials recovery facilities and putting up landfills. Only in 2014 did we see a significant increase in the number of those who submitted solid waste management plans," he explained.

Villar warned that private companies that produce plastic waste should find ways to reduce their waste on pain of possible government sanctions. — GMA News