The House of Representatives on Wednesday (July 28) approved on third and final reading a bill banning single-use plastics, two decades after the first bills were filed.
House Bill (HB) No. 9147 seeks to regulate the production, importation, sale, distribution, provision, use, recovery, collection, recycling, and disposal of single-use plastic products.
The bill also shifts the responsibility on producers to recover plastic waste to prevent leakage into bodies of water and harm to the environment.
Speaker Lord Allan Velasco said in the hearing that the measure aims to protect life from hazards posed by plastic pollution, and it provides steps for the eventual phasing out of single-use plastic products.
One of the bill’s key objectives is “to prolong the service life of sanitary landfills by reducing the volume of single use plastic waste for final disposal.”
The bill also mandates the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to formulate within six months a phase-out plan on single-use plastic wastes, with components on reducing consumption, increasing recovery, keeping producers accountable, developing alternatives, and raising awareness.
The Philippine News Agency reported that the chamber passed on third reading HB 9147 with 190 affirmative votes, zero negative votes, and one abstention. – CF – jlo
