QUEZON CITY, Feb. 13 (PIA) -- Sixty one bills in the House of Representatives seeking to phase-out or regulate single-use plastics were tackled recently in a technical working group chaired by Rep. Francisco "Kiko" Benitez under the House of Representatives Committee on Ecology..
"This legislation is a critical, concrete step towards a circular economy. There are products that we can immediately ban. But for products that are not easily replaceable, we must give manufacturers time to produce alternatives and diversify," Benitez said.
The lawmaker emphasized the need to consult all stakeholders from the sectors that will be affected, in view of the wide range of products to be covered by the bills such as plastic straws for drinks, plastic coffee stirrers, plastic bags of thickness below 50 microns, plastic cups and cutlery, containers of polystyrene, balloons and candy sticks, buntings, and confetti.
Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda, for her part as co-author, also expressed strong support for the immediate passage of the legislative measure regulating and prohibiting single-use plastics.
“We have seen with our own eyes and we have known for some time that single-use plastics have a negative impact on the environment. This is even more problematic in our flood-prone areas, where plastic wastes clog our sewerage systems. The issue isn’t just that plastic bags take forever to disintegrate, it is the massive number of plastics Filipinos use and quickly throw away. These plastics are choking the life out of our oceans and forests and polluting our communities,” Legarda said.
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