Cimatu backs bill making manufacturers accountable for plastic wastes
ENVIRONMENT Secretary Roy Cimatu hailed a Senate bill making manufacturers and producers accountable for proper management of their plastic packaging waste.
Senate Bill 2425 which was passed on third and final reading on January 31 aims to institutionalize the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) that will amend RA 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.
“We are supporting moves in Congress to amend the RA 9003, to institutionalize the practice of extended producer responsibility on plastic packaging wastes,” Cimatu said during the celebration of the 21st anniversary of the signing of RA 9003.
The DENR chief explained that the amendment of the law would define EPR as a “practical approach on efficient waste management, waste reduction and development of environmentally-friendly packaging products to promote sustainable consumption and production and the principles of a circular economy, and to emphasize the full responsibility of the producer throughout the products life cycle.”
He stressed that “obliged companies” will be required to observe suitable and effective “recovery, treatment, recycling or disposal” of their products which are sold to and used by the consumers.
“We are also advocating the extension of producer responsibility to waste electrical and electronic equipment, which is another form of hazardous waste,” Cimatu said.
