Quezon City, Philippines—A national ban on disposable plastic products is not only very necessary but also doable and practical, Greenpeace Philippines stated today in reaction to statements made by Senator Cynthia Villar on Tuesday. [1]
Greenpeace Campaigner Virginia Benosa-Llorin said:
“It’s not impossible to ban single-use plastics. There are already existing local bans on disposable plastic packaging and products in urban centers such as Quezon City, as well as in provinces such as Siquijor. These plastic bans can be successfully implemented as long as there is strong political will to do so.
Alternatives to single-use plastics already exist and the proposed ban should prompt the government to support and promote the development of packaging and delivery systems that don’t rely on disposables. Currently, Filipino taxpayers shoulder the cleanup, health and environmental costs of plastics. Rather than giving companies more excuses to pass the costs and responsibility to people, the ban should be used to mandate these companies to implement refill and reuse systems for their products.
“The best way to solve the plastic problem is to stop producing plastic in the first place. Recycling, upcycling, downcycling, and drastic approaches such as waste incineration do not address the root of the problem, and will only encourage the continued manufacture of single-use plastic which end up as pollution and puts people’s health and well-being at risk [2].”
Notes to editors:
[1] In a public hearing on Tuesday, Sen. Cynthia Villar said it may be impossible to ban plastics due to the absence of alternatives. https://www.rappler.com/nation/252106-villar-says-banning-single-use-plastics-may-be-impossible
[2] Approximately 6300 metric tons of plastic waste had been generated, around 9% of which had been recycled, 12% was incinerated, and 79% was accumulated in landfills or the natural environment | Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made, Read more: https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/advances/3/7/e1700782.full.pdf
Media contact:
Angeli Cantillana
Communications Campaigner, Greenpeace Philippines
[email protected] / +639985959733
Virginia Benosa-Llorin
Campaigner, Greenpeace Philippines
[email protected] / +639985826617
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Discussion
Plastics like any other chemical products (Fuels - gasoline, coal, oils, PCBs, Freon, etc. ) are not the problem but our inability to control the impacts despite the scientific studies and warnings by scientist. Plastic pollution is just the strong evidence for our failure to take care of our environment. Plastic bags and other household products are just the "visible" evidence of our failure on solid waste disposal. If we have collected all the plastics and recycled it, we can benefit from it by turning it into fuel. The solution is there. Collect all plastics and recycle it. We are surrounded by plastics from furniture to appliances and even our ATMs, IDs, cellphones, money (in other countries). Think otherwise, and find the proper solutions which are already here and now.