Days of nonrecyclables numbered in Davao

DAVAO CITY—The city on June 28 will start enforcing an ordinance banning the use of nonbiodegradable packaging materials, including plastic bags and Styrofoam, according to city officials.

The use of biodegradable plastics, however, will be allowed, according to Dolly Remojo, head of the city environment and natural resources office’s (Cenro) environmental waste management division.

Remojo said the city government was firm on enforcing the ban and would not exempt any business establishment from it.

Some businessmen, she said, were asking the city government to postpone the enforcement of the ordinance but city officials were bent on enforcing it starting June 28.

Business establishments, she said, should start disposing of their nonbiodegradable plastics by selling these in areas where no ban on the materials exist or returning these to manufacturers.

Joseph Dominic Felizarta, Cenro chief, said Cenro teams will be deployed to grocery stores, markets and other establishments to monitor compliance.

Under the new ordinance, violators face fines of up to P5,000 and a jail term of up to six months.

Nonbiodegradable plastic candy or snack food wrappers will be treated as residual items and can be disposed of in the city’s sanitary landfill, said Felizarta.

In an article written by Joy M. Lazcano in the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) website, biodegradable plastics are defined as materials that decompose with composting plants in less than a year.

Technology to produce these types of plastics in the Philippines, the article said, was introduced to the Philippines by Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization with the help of DOST’s Metals Industry Research and Development Center.

It said biodegradable plastics were made from biopolymers or cellulose, corn, starch and soy-based materials that are turned into powder and mixed with a solution to turn them into sturdy materials for industrial or commercial use.

The volume of garbage in many urban centers is growing. In Metro Manila alone, the DOST article said, at least 600,000 tons of garbage are generated every day and 30 percent of these are plastics. Ayan Mellejor and Judy Quiros, Inquirer Mindanao