Villar urges wider ban on use of plastic bags

MANILA, Philippines–Sen. Cynthia Villar on Sunday said more places should consider banning plastic for commercial use, after several Metro Manila cities reported their success in doing away with the ubiquitous product.

In a press statement, Villar said she was concerned about the toxic threat to marine life posed by plastic trash.

The regulation of plastic use includes banning plastic bags from stores and as packaging material.

In 2010, a waste audit conducted on Manila Bay by environmental advocacy groups led by the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, EcoWaste Coalition and Greenpeace showed that 75.5 percent of the garbage people threw into the water consisted of plastic, Villar said.

Globally, 80 percent of marine litter is composed of plastic, she added.

“Plastic wastes go deep down to the ocean floor. We wrongly think that plastic just floats, but 70 percent of plastic waste eventually sinks,” she said.

Scientific studies have found that plastic items break into small pieces that fish could ingest, which means plastic could find its way into the food that humans eat.

She said plastic bags were particularly hazardous to marine creatures, which could mistake them for jellyfish and eat them, causing their death. Birds have also been known to have been poisoned by plastic trash from humans, she added.

“We can just imagine how much damage plastic does to marine habitats, the ecosystem and our very own health and wellbeing,” she said.

She noted that it would take between 100 and 500 years for a plastic bag to disintegrate.

According to Villar, an estimated 14 billion pounds of garbage makes its way into the world’s oceans every year. Most of this comes from improperly disposed of trash, which eventually travels through the waterways and into the seas.

She said the existing plastic ban in various cities throughout the country had made a difference.

In Metro Manila, the cities of Caloocan, Muntinlupa, Las Piñas, Pasig, Quezon, Pasay, Marikina, Mandaluyong, Manila and Makati have regulated the use of plastic bags and wrappers.–Leila B. Salaverria