The Sangguniang Panlungsod is urging the National Solid Waste Management Commission to release the list of non-environmentally acceptable materials which include single use plastics.
The resolution authored by Councilors Celia Flor and Claudio Puentevella said it has been almost 18 years since the effectivity of Republic Act 9003, with the Solid Waste Management Commission still to release the list and schedule the phase out of non-environmentally acceptable products, as defined by and mandated by the aforesaid law.
R.A. 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 provides that the commission will prepare a list of non-environmentally acceptable products as defined under the said Act. It also requires the annual review and updating of the said list, it said.
The resolution said single use plastic materials and plastic bags, which are commonly used for plastic packaging and are merely used only once before they are thrown away, constitute the most used and the bulk of disposed plastics in the city.
The SP also urged the National Solid Waste Commission to include single use plastics such as plastic straws and stirrers, plastic disposable cups, plastic disposable cutlery, plastic grocery bags, plastic beverage bottles, and the like in the list of non-environmentally acceptable materials.
(Chrysee Semillano via The Visayan Daily Star (TVDS), photo courtesy of TVDS)