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Philippines
Plastic bag bans to reduce land based marine pollution
1. Summary
Plastic bags are ubiquitous: they can be seen blowing across parking lots,
poking out of landfills, and drifting in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. As of
2014, the Earth Policy Institute estimated a trillion single-use plastic bags
are used every year—nearly two million per minute. A plastic bag takes 400 to
1,000 years to break down in a landfill, while releasing carcinogenic chemicals
into the environment. Many plastic bags, however, go through this breakdown
process in places other than landfills—places like the world’s oceans. Almost
90 percent of floating marine debris is plastic, which is especially harmful to
marine life because it accumulates and concentrates toxins in the ocean. Marine
debris presents a serious threat to the environment, wildlife, and human
health. Plastic breaks down into small particles called microplastics that end
up in the food chain, harming fish and wildlife and posing a risk to human
health. (See S. Wright et al., 2013.) The Philippines has a very high level of
plastic bag consumption and plastic pollution of the marine environment.
Moreover, on top of the universal threats from plastic pollution–such as marine
life mortality, fisheries degradation and decreased beach value—the Philippines
faces another danger: deadly flooding. In 2009, a tropical storm brought heavy
rains to the Philippines that caused flooding in which approximately 400 people
died. Drainage systems that should have helped alleviate the flooding didn’t
function properly. Cleanups after the disaster revealed that garbage—primarily
plastic bags—was responsible for blocking the drainage systems and making the
typhoon so deadly. With this understanding, NGOs and policy-makers began
advocating for plastic bag bans. As climate change exacerbates extreme weather
events in the Philippines, the importance of bans has gained urgency.
Muntinlupa City was the first local government in Metro Manila to implement a
ban on plastic bags in 2011 (officially doing so via Ordinance 10-109).
Benefits were readily apparent when the next typhoon hit and resulted in
notably less flood damage. Ordinance 10-109 has had a domino effect as other
cities follow suit with their own plastic bag bans. To date, the legal outcomes
are: • Local governments across the Philippines, responding to campaigns from
NGOs and communities, have initiated, adopted, implemented, and enforced
plastic bag bans. • National-level decision-makers have proposed several bills
in the House of Representatives and the Senate to harmonize and create a
general rule on plastic bag use nationwide.
2.
Legal Framework to Reduce Plastic Pollution: the first city bag ban In 2009,
Typhoon Ondoy caused extensive damage in the Muntinlupa district of Metro
Manila. The Environmental Sanitation Center estimated the costs of the typhoon
at ₱ 420 million for the Muntinlupa city district. Plastic garbage was found to
be responsible for clogging the waterways and drainage systems and making the
damage much worse.
i.
Ordinance 10-109 To address this problem, the municipality adopted Ordinance
10-109 the following year, “prohibiting the use of plastic bags on dry goods,
regulating its utilization on wet goods and prohibiting the use of Styrofoam/styrophor
in the city of Muntinlupa and prescribing the penalties thereof.” This was the
first plastic ban in a Philippine urban area. The first pillar of Ordinance
10-109 is aimed at reducing and then eliminating the use of plastic bags as
packaging materials. It established the following rules: • Business
establishments are prohibited from using plastic bags on dry goods. • Use of
plastic on wet goods is regulated; plastic shall not be used as secondary
packaging for wet goods. • Styrofoam and styrophor are prohibited. No business
establishment is allowed to use them as containers for products such as food. •
Business establishments are forbidden from selling plastic bags for secondary
packaging for wet and dry goods or primary packaging for dry goods. Violators
can be sanctioned with escalating monetary fines, and the courts are authorized
to suspend or cancel business permits at their discretion. 2 The government of
Muntinlupa postponed the entry into force of the ban for one year to conduct
community education on the bans and on alternatives to plastics. The second
pillar of the ordinance is aimed at encouraging the use of alternative
packaging materials, such as bags made of cloth, paper, banana leaves, etc. It
also promotes the “Bring Your Own Bag/Bayong” scheme (BYOB). ii. Implementation
and Enforcement In preparation for the ordinance’s entry into force in January
2011, several campaigns informed and educated customers about using alternative
biodegradable materials. In January 2011, at the end of the moratorium,
Muntinlupa City started to implement the ban. The Environmental Sanitation
Center (“ESC”) strongly enforced the ban, sending enforcement officers to
ticket violators in establishments all over the city. Additionally, the
government ordered its 6,000 employees to bring reusable containers for their
food and drinks. Since the implementation of the ban in 2011, 1,400
establishments have received fines, and 7 establishments that consistently
violated the rules were shut down. Consumers are changing their habits and
following the BYOB campaigns by bringing their own bag when grocery shopping
(see http://nicamandigma.com/byob-muntinlupa-bans-plastic-bags/). 3. Legal
Outcomes i. Other Provinces, Cities and Municipalities Have Also Banned or
Regulated the Use of Plastic Bags Muntinlupa’s example set off a domino effect,
with other cities starting to regulate plastic bag use. The City of Quezon
adopted ordinances SP-2140 and SP-2103 in 2012, aiming to “effectively regulate
the use of plastic bags in the city” (http://quezoncity.gov.ph). Ordinance
SP-2140 institutes a fee of ₱2.00 for every use of a plastic bag, which goes to
a Green Fund. Ordinance SP-2103 asks the businesses that use plastic bags to
display a notice in their stores encouraging customers to bring their own
reusable bags. It also implements a system of reward points for using
recyclable bags, this system is used mainly by large businesses. Fines escalate
from ₱1,000 for the first offense to ₱3,000 for the second offense to ₱5,000 or
cancelation of business permits for the third offense. Las Pinas city followed
with Ordinance 1036-11, which came into effect in January 2012. It prohibits
the use of plastic bags to pack purchased goods and the use of polystyrene
foams in containers. Businesses cannot offer or sell plastic bags for packaging
or containers. The anti-plastic police enforce the no-plastic policy and make
regular inspections within the city to ensure compliance. Sanctions for
violations range from ₱1,000 to ₱5,000, and can carry a penalty of up to 6
months in prison and cancellation of business permits for one year in the case
of repeated violations. As a result of this policy, the municipality has
observed a 4% decline in the amount of plastic and polystyrene trash. In the
City of San Fernando, Ordinance 2014-008, “The Plastic-Free Ordinance of the
City of San Fernando, Pampanga” (2014), regulates the use of plastic bags and
prohibits the use of polystyrene for 3 food products while promoting the use of
reusable bags. The Ordinance started by instituting a ”Plastic Regulation Day”
every Friday during which vendors were prohibited from packaging their wares in
plastic bags for free. The prohibition was then extended to every day. Besides
this phase-out of plastic bag use, the Ordinance also bans the use of
polystyrene for food packaging and containers. Additionally, stores must make
reusable and woven bags available to customers. The City Environment and
Natural Resources Office (“CENRO”), in coordination with the Mother Earth
Foundation, is responsible for the implementation of the Ordinance. CENRO is
authorized to take enforcement actions, which range from investigating
violations to meting out penalties. If businesses fail to comply multiple
times, the penalties escalate: beginning with a warning, rising to fines, and
finally cancelling a facility’s business permit for the 4th offense. A Plastic
Waste Reduction Monitoring Team was created to assist in the effective
implementation of the Ordinance’s waste reduction goals—25% reduction in the
first year, increased by 10% every following year. A Trust Fund created by the
Ordinance receives all fines. These fines are to be used for the Ordinance’s
implementation and enforcement, and to encourage environmental and solid waste
projects implemented in partnership with duly recognized NGOs. Other cities and
municipalities have now adopted plastic bag bans: Makati city with Ordinance
2003- 095, Bacolod city with Ordinance 562, and Manila City with Ordinance 7393
in force from July 31, 2012. Several provincial-level bans are now in place
that cover multiple cities and municipalities. The Provincial Ordinance
007-2012 of Cavite, for example, covers six cities and 17 municipalities. It
gives very detailed prohibitions and regulations for the use of plastic for
goods and commodities. It also requires all schools to teach their students how
to make bags out of recyclable and environmentally friendly materials. The
Ecowaste Coalition, a group of NGOs including GAIA, Mother Earth, Greenpeace
and the Philippine Earth Justice Center, has developed an Ordinance template
that can be adapted by other provinces and cities to accelerate adoption of
their own plastic bag bans. ii. A National Plastic Bag Ban Is Proposed In 2011,
several national bills were presented in the House of Representatives and the
Senate to ban, phase out, tax or regulate the use of plastic bags in the
country. Most of them were sent to Committees for further analysis and are
blocked there as of 2015. In June 2011, Oscar Malapitan and other members of
the House of Representatives presented the HB04840 proposition for the “Plastic
Bag Regulation Act of 2011.” After the reports of the Committees on Ecology and
Rules, the Bill was approved on second reading in August 2011 and transmitted
to the Senate a few days later. It currently remains pending in front of the
Senate Committees on Trade and Commerce, Environment, and Natural Resources and
Finance. In 2013, a new series of bills (HBs 106, 359, 394, 1624, 3153, 3227,
3511, 3600, 5379, & 2202) regulating the production, importation, sale,
provision, use, recovery, collection, recycling and disposal of plastic bags,
were introduced in the House of Representatives that are quite similar to the
Plastic Bag Regulation Act of 2011 (HB04840 proposition). The legislative
package was passed out of the Committee 4 on Ecology on September 16th, 2015
and will be presented to a plenary session of the House and, if passed, will
then be consolidated with a parallel version pending in the Senate. The
Proposed National Plastic Bag Regulation Act would: Promote the Use of
Biodegradable Bags – Section 3 of the bill requires commercial establishments
to provide and promote biodegradable plastic bags and reusable bags to their
consumers within six months of the Act going into effect. The bill asks
specialized government departments to set up the national standard for
biodegradable plastic bags, which will consider the level of recyclability of
the bags. Require In-store Plastic Bag Recovery and Recycling Programs – The bill
also requires commercial establishments to implement a recovery program within
the store in order to incentivize customers to recycle their plastic bags in
the store in the same place where they initially received them. The customer
will have to bring back a plastic bag in order to get a new one or pay a fee.
Phase-out of Non-biodegradable Plastic Bags – Section 5 is the core of the Act,
establishing the complete phase-out of non-biodegradable plastic bags one year
after when the Act goes into effect. After the one-year grace period, a total
plastic bag ban will be applied, prohibiting production, importation, sale,
distribution, provision, and use. Role of Provinces, Cities and Municipalities
(known as Local Government Units (“LGUs”)) – Section 8 gives strength to the
Act by organizing the collection, transportation, recycling, and disposal of
plastic bags in each territorial jurisdiction. Fines and Penalties – The
sanctions are detailed in Section 9. Violators will be penalized as follows: o
First Offense: A fine not exceeding ₱100,000 o Second Offense: A fine not
exceeding ₱250,000 o Third Offense: A fine not exceeding ₱500,000 o Fourth
Offense: A fine not exceeding ₱750,000 and automatic revocation of the business
permit. The revenue from the fines is to be used to improve the waste
management capability of the local municipal area where the store is located.
Another parallel bill, the Total Plastic Ban Act of 2011, was introduced in the
Senate in March 2011 and also remains pending in the Committees. The purpose of
the proposed act is to implement a total plastic ban throughout the country:
“The use of plastic bags in all establishments is to be prohibited, with
corresponding penalties for its violation, with the objective of curbing
pollution and helping the country manage its ecological assets more
judiciously” (Act, Explanatory Note). 5 Declaration – The proposed act starts
by affirming and recognizing the right to a “balanced and healthful ecology in
accord with the rhythm and harmony of nature.” It also declares that “it is the
policy of the State to protect and advance [this] right.” (Section 2)
Prohibition – Use of non-biodegradable plastic bags is prohibited for
groceries, supermarkets, public markets, restaurants, fast food chains,
department stores, retail stores, and other similar establishments. Only
recyclable paper bags and biodegradable plastic bags can be used. (Section 3)
Penalties – Violators will be penalized as follows: o First Offense: A fine of
₱10,000 o Second Offense: A fine of ₱50,000 o Third Offense: A fine of ₱200,000
and the suspension of their business permit for a period of one year. (Section
4) Implementation – The Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the
Department of Interior and Local Government, and the Department of Trade and
Industry are responsible for implementing the ban. They will need to consult
with consumer groups, plastic producers and any other affected groups to
responsibly implement the ban (Section 6). The Department of Science and
Technology is tasked with assisting plastic manufacturers in acquiring the
appropriate technology for the manufacture of recyclable paper bags,
biodegradable bags, and/or reusable plastic bags. (Section 7) 4. Assessment of
Plastic Pollution Reduction Today, multiple provinces, cities, and
municipalities across the Philippines are regulating, restricting or banning
the use of plastic bags. The proliferation of local ordinances with different
requirements has caused some confusion and driven a renewed push for a national
approach to stem plastic bag waste. Bills are pending in both the House and
Senate. But national decision-makers pushing for a ban ran into a barrier: the
plastic industry. The industry, which claims to employ more than 200,000
workers in the Philippines, has pushed back, publishing several responses to
local bans and challenging the ordinances in the courts. Muntinlupa City
decreased its daily waste collection after enacting its ordinance from an
average of 131 tons per day in 2010 to an average of 127 tons per day in 2011,
a significant decrease of 4 tons per day. The local government estimates that
90% of the city’s establishments comply with the law. When Typhoon Falcon hit
Muntinlupa City in July 2015 there was less flooding damage, and posttyphoon
cleanups collected less plastic bag waste than they had six years earlier after
Typhoon Ondoy. In Las Pinas City, the total amount of garbage collected
decreased 37% after the regulation was implemented, and only 4% of the garbage
collected was plastic or Styrofoam (Fernando 2012). 6 Customers have started
changing their habits where the ban is implemented; for example, they have
begun to carry their own reusable bags. (See
http://dezalyx.hubpages.com/hub/Plastic-Ban-in-thePhilippines-One-City-at-a-Time).
5. More resources Worldwide: • Downfall Plastic Bag Global Picture • Plastic
Pollution • http://www.earth-policy.org/plan_b_updates/2013/update123 • http://www.environment.ucla.edu/media/files/Pritzker-Paper-5-04-iro.pdf
•
Plastic bags laws in the US – overview: http://plasticbaglaws.org/
In the Philippines:
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