Plastics industry stakeholders eye gradual shift to oxo-biodegradable alternative

The association of stakeholders in the plastics industry has proposed a gradual shift to an eco-friendly alternative to disposable plastic bags instead of phasing them out in one go.

 

Willy Go of the Philippine Plastics Industry Association (PPIA) made the suggestion at the technical working group hearing of the House ecology committee Thursday.

 

“Pagdating sa plastic na take-out bag or single-use bag, mas maganda kung i-phase out natin gradually, bigyan natin ng isang taon or panahong nakatakda para maubos ‘yung stocks, then mag-shift tayo sa oxo-biodegradable na plastic,” he said.

 

Go described oxo-biodegradable plastic bags as a cheap but more environmentally-friendly alternative to existing single-use plastic bags as it is only two to three percent more expensive than non-biodegradable plastics.

 

Due to its composition, oxo-biodegradable plastic bags degrade much quicker than its non-biodegradable counterpart, which can take hundreds of years to disintegrate to smaller pieces.

 

For his part, Jeremiah Sebastian of the Pollution Control Association of the Philippines suggested putting a minimum percentage of recycled component in manufactured plastic bags to entice manufacturers to buy used plastic bags.

 

“Since a minimum recycled component is required, magkakaroon ng demand for recycled plastic bags as a resource,” he said.

 

Sebastian observed that disposable plastic bags are considered low-value by the public in general because there is little value in recovering it.

 

Plastic bottles, in contrast, are deemed high-value by the several people since they can be sold to junk shops, he said. 

 

“If we put some sort of value in plastic bags— such as it’s recyclable—and people realize there’s a value in recovering it, they’d eventually collect it by themselves,” Sebastian said.

 

At least five bills have been filed in the House of Representatives seeking to ban the sale and use of disposable plastic bags in business establishments. One of the proposals, House Bill 3153 authored by Rep. Raymond Democrito Mendoza, prohibits the importation, sale and use of plastic bags thinner than 15 microns.

 

Under Mendoza’s measure, establishments that use thin plastic bags, or those that do not provide an in-store plastic bag recycling program or require a deposit for the use of plastic bags face a penalty ranging from P100,000 to P500,000 depending on the number of times an offense has been committed. 

 

House Bill 5379 filed by Nueva Ecija Rep. Estrellita Suansing, meanwhile, proposes to require retail stores that provide plastic bags to implement a plastic bag collection and recycling program.

 

The proposed “Plastic Bag Recycling Act” provides that stores giving out plastic carry-out bags to consumers as part of a purchase at retail will be required to establish an in-store recycling program for consumers to be able to return the bags they used. 

 

According to Suansing, four to five trillion plastic bags are used worldwide each year, with billions ending up as waste that takes hundreds to thousands of years to disintegrate.  — ELR, GMA News