PRESIDENT Duterte plans a nationwide ban on single-use plastics (SUPs) or disposable plastics, the most wasteful evidence of our throw-away society. But he says legislation for this is needed.
SUPs typically include plastic items intended to be used once before they are disposed of or recycled such as bottles, cutlery, cups, sachets, stirrers, straws, and the ubiquitous plastic bags and polystyrene containers or Styrofoam.
In a 2018 United Nations report, SUPs were associated with environmental problems, including plastic bags clogging waterways and exacerbating natural disasters, plastics being ingested by marine animals who mistake them for food, and toxic emissions from the burning of plastic wastes.
There is evidence that the toxic chemicals added during the manufacture of plastic transfer to animal tissue, eventually entering the human food chain, the report said.
Also, it added, Styrofoam products, which contain carcinogenic chemicals like styrene and benzene, are highly toxic if ingested, damaging the nervous systems, lungs and reproductive organs. The toxins in Styrofoam containers can leach into food and drinks.
Aside from the benefits of cutting plastic pollution, banning SUPs will also help in re-shaping people’s behavior with increased awareness on the need to cut down on plastic use and the overall disposable culture.
We thus urge Congress to legislate a national ban on SUPs to curb chemical and waste pollution that is causing untold harm to the natural environment. Such a law is needed to stimulate and strengthen actions by local government units to address the scourge of throw-away plastic. It should set a phase-out target and timeline, promote alternatives, and provide for incentives to encourage consumer and industry shift to eco-friendly products and packaging.
A nationwide ban will translate to less plastic being produced, consumed and disposed of, less plastic being dumped or burned, and less plastic leaking to our seas. It will mean saving our planet, our own lives and our future.
