DENR Undersecretary for Solid Waste Management and Local Government Units (LGUs) Concerns Benny D. Antiporda said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) “will abide by the call of the President to ban unnecessary single-use plastics” despite of “some resistance from other government agencies.”
This as the DENR reiterated its call for the proper disposal of face masks and faces shields, which are mostly made of plastic, to avoid the risks of transmission and help prevent the spread of the dreaded Covid-19.
“Protection against Covid-19 goes beyond following the minimum health protocols and the use of face masks and face shields,” Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu was quoted in a statement as saying. “Our responsibility extends to the disposal of these healthcare items, which are potentially contaminated.”
The DENR chief noted that disposable face masks and face shields have now affected terrestrial and aquatic animals because of improper disposal.
“We have seen that while face masks protect us, these have become the newest threat to animal life because of entanglement, and have added up to marine litter,” Cimatu said.
Antiporda emphasized the participation of households in the proper segregation of used face masks from other solid wastes.
“We never thought that these healthcare wastes will end up in our doorsteps. Before, these items are just found in operating rooms of hospitals. So, let’s put our used face masks in a separate container and properly label it as household healthcare waste, even specifically indicating it as face mask,” he said during his guesting in the radio program “Ang Tinig Klima” last week.
“Let’s do this so we won’t jeopardize the lives of garbage collectors and whoever takes out trashes at home. If we will not practice this, and masks contaminate other solid wastes, these people will have the risk of getting infected by the virus and consequently infecting our own households in the end,” he added.
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