Conservation
group World Wide Fund for Nature Philippines (WWF-Philippines) is releasing a
white paper to help the Philippine government in the upcoming implementation of
the Extended Producers Responsibility (EPR) Law.
After years of
dialogues, the Extended Producers Responsibility Act of 2022 finally lapsed
into law last July 23, 2022. Right after its passage, the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) started multi-sectoral consultations
to craft the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the EPR Law.
WWF-Philippines
lauds this monumental achievement in the battle against plastic pollution as
the EPR scheme is a critical policy tool that holds producers accountable for
the full life cycle of their products and packaging. EPR is an environmental
policy approach that emerged in the 1990s and is now increasingly recognized
globally as a useful tool for accelerating the transition to sustainable waste
management and a circular economy. This scheme encourages waste reduction
through the elimination of unnecessary packaging of products, the development
of more environmentally friendly packaging design, and the recovery of plastic
packaging from the trash in order to reuse or recycle them back into the
production process.
To successfully
implement the EPR Law in the country, WWF-Philippines, through discussions with
other stakeholders from different sectors, highlights several key points that
the IRR must include and give clarity.
First, the IRR
must clarify the role and powers of the Producer Responsibility Operator (PRO)
as they will play a huge role in the implementation of the EPR system. Public
registries and information data banks should also be readily available for
monitoring and guidance.
Secondly,
eco-modulation or the adjustment of the EPR fees based on the packaging of the
product should be emphasized and ensure that the fees will support the
improvement of our solid waste management system. Investments should also be
made in research and development, technology sharing, and the reduction of
plastic waste in the country.
Another
important point that WWF-Philippines underscores is labeling, which is an
important aspect to facilitate proper re-use, recycling,
return-to-manufacturer, and other means to circulate the material in the
system. Lastly, EPR programs should be inclusive and integrated into the
existing solid waste management system of our country.
“We at
WWF-Philippines commends the Philippine government for taking concrete actions
against plastic pollution. EPR Law is a very important instrument that will
shape the future of our initiatives against plastic pollution. Our work now is
to implement together with all stakeholders and ensure that we are adopting a
human-rights-based approach in doing so.”, said Czarina Constantino - Panopio,
Program Manager for No Plastics in Nature initiative.
According to
studies by WWF-Philippines, Filipinos each consume a yearly average of 20kgs of
plastics, and 15.43kgs of it becomes total plastic waste. The country is also
suffering from a very low plastic recycling rate of 9%. The report further
estimates that the Philippines leaks about 35% of plastic waste into the
environment.
WWF-Philippines
actively pushes for actions against plastic pollution through its “No Plastic in Nature Initiative”. It is
WWF’s global initiative to stop the flow of plastics entering nature by 2030
through the elimination of unnecessary plastics, doubling reuse, recycling, and
recovery, and ensuring remaining plastic is sourced responsibly. Through this
initiative, WWF-Philippines has been working with cities on plastic leakage,
policymakers to advocate for a global treaty on plastic pollution and EPR,
businesses to transition to circular business models, and the general public to
campaign and act.
To know more
about WWF-Philippines and its initiatives, please visit https://wwf.org.ph/
About WWF
WWF is one of
the world’s largest and most respected independent conservation organizations,
with over 5 million
supporters and a global network active in nearly 100 countries. WWF’s mission
is to stop the degradation of the Earth’s natural environment and to build a
future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by conserving the world’s
biological diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is
sustainable, and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption.
WWF-Philippines
has been working as a national organization of the WWF network since 1997 and
implements various conservation projects to help protect some of the most
biologically-significant ecosystems in Asia. WWF-Philippines works to improve
Filipino lives by crafting solutions to climate change, providing sustainable
livelihood programs, and conserving the country’s richest marine and land
habitats.
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