Quezon City,
Philippines — The pollution
watchdog EcoWaste Coalition lauds the House of Representative for passing a
national regulation on single-use plastic, which signifies a first step towards
eradicating plastic pollution in the country.
“We welcome the
timely passage of House Bill 9147 and we now challenge our Senators to act and
pass a stronger national single-use plastic regulation. The Senate version
should promote genuine solutions to curb plastic production and consumption and
should not promote dirty solutions such as incineration and thermal treatment,”
said Coleen Salamat, Plastic Solutions Campaigner of EcoWaste Coalition
With 190 affirmative
votes, zero negative, the House of Representatives approved in the final
reading the House Bill 9147 last July 28, 2021. The bill sets a gradual
phase-out period for different plastic products and imposes accountability to
plastic producers and manufacturers.Similar bills on the
regulation of single-use plastics have been filed in the Senate since 2019 but,
so far, none of the bills have moved beyond the Committee level.
2020 data from the Department of Environment
and Natural Resources - Environmental Management Bureau, revealed that four
hundred and eighty-eight (488) local government units have ordinances banning
single-use plastics. With this, the stand of the local government against
plastic pollution is evident.
“We only have a few weeks left in the
legislative calendar and with the 2022 national elections fast approaching, we
believe that now is the right time to pass the national regulation on
single-use plastics. Our environment and communities cannot afford to go back
to start with this bill in the new Congress,” said Salamat.
It can be recalled that in 2019, Palace
officials warmed up to the idea of a plastic ban. As the lower house passed
House Bill 9147, the group urged the Philippine Senate to act in response to
this. With the increasing plastic consumption due to the pandemic, plastic
waste is estimated to increase by 300%.(By JONG D. CADION with PR from EcoWaste
Coalition)
For more information, please contact: EcoWaste Coalition info@ecowastecoalition.org Click link below to read related article..... https://frontlinemindanaobalita.blogspot.com/2021/07/eco-groups-welcome-passage-of-national.html
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