A technical working group looking into several proposals
prohibiting the single-use plastic products filed with the House of
Representatives is moving towards banning the non-essential single-use plastics
in the country in order to promote and preserve a safe and healthy environment,
according to Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco.
The TWG led by Velasco met on Tuesday to discuss the
consolidated bills aiming to regulate the production, importation, sale,
provision, use, recovery, collection, recycling and disposal of single-use
plastic products.
The TWG is under the House Committee on Ecology headed by Zamboanga Rep. Glona Labadlabad.
Velasco, who chairs the House Committee on Energy, is a
proponent of one of 33 bills filed in Congress seeking to ban the single-use
plastics, in accordance with the provision of the Constitution that mandates
the State to “protect and advance the right of the people to a balanced and
healthful ecology in accord with the rhythm and harmony of nature.”
The Marinduque lawmaker’s bill, House Bill No. 2396 or the
Ban of Single-Use Plastics Act, is also in line with President Rodrigo
Duterte’s pronouncement to prohibit the use of plastics nationwide.
“The direction of the TWG is to ban the non-essential
single-use plastics and to clarify that other plastic products should be
regulated and as much as possible, recovered and recycled/re-used,” Velasco
said.
“We will try our best to come up with a bill that will
ensure a healthy and safe environment for the generations to come,” he added,
as he called on stakeholders to submit their position papers to help the panel
craft a “very balanced bill.”
The final version of the proposal will incorporate the
Extended Producers Responsibility (EPR) to ensure the retrievability of
plastics, according to Velasco, a certified diver himself who have witnessed
the extent of the environmental damage caused by plastics.
Under the definition of the Overseas Economic Cooperation
and Development, EPR is a policy approach in which producers are given the
financial or physical responsibility for the treatment and disposal of
post-consumer products to prevent wastes at the source, promote product design
for the environment, and achieve public recycling and materials management
goals. - C Bayarcal, Rep's Office, Lone District of Marinduque
