Senate bill to require buyback of plastics

OVERWHELMED BY WASTE Garbage collected in many parts of the country, like in Divisoria, is composed mostly of plastics. —EARVIN PERIAS

BOCAUE, BULACAN—The Senate plans to push legislation to require beverage manufacturers to buy back plastic bottles sold at supermarkets and retail, and help reduce the country’s plastic pollution.

The country, along with China, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, produces half of the 8 million tons of plastic wastes that reach the world’s oceans and seas, Sen. Joel Villanueva said on Tuesday when he spoke at the Bocaue leg of “Refill Revolution.”

The event, initiated by the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, encouraged consumers to bring recyclable containers when buying items like condiments, shampoo and cooking oil.

Villanueva said the Senate would deliberate on a bill that sought to require the beverage industry to prepare, submit and implement an effective disposal mechanism and accounting of all beverage containers in the market.

Redemption centers

The bill also encourages consumers to recycle through redemption centers set up by retail stores.

“We want to impose discipline [regarding] proper waste management and recycling,” he said.

“Little by little, we can do so much for our environment and we must strive to remove our country from the list of major contributors of plastic wastes being dumped into the world’s oceans,” he added.

In 2016, 480 billion plastic bottles were sold worldwide, he said.

Bocaue has a similar project called “Palit-Kalakal.” Residents return empty liquor and plastic bottles for chips that can be used to buy grocery items.

“We pay P8 worth of chips a kilo of plastic bottles. A bottle of a popular whiskey is worth P3, while a bottle of gin is equivalent to P1. A kilo of empty shampoo containers is worth P15,” said Bocaue Mayor Joni Villanueva-Tugna. —CARMELA REYES-ESTROPE