Residents of Los Baños and Bay towns, along the coast of Laguna de Bay and about 60 kilometers south of Manila, cope with floodwaters that have not receded 3 days after Typhoon Ondoy ravaged the Philippines.
Image Source: Flickr/ International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)
In contrast to China and Indonesia, the Philippines has high trash collection rates. Yet, it is ranked as the world's 3rd biggest source of marine plastic debris, generating 2.7 million tonnes of plastic waste with half a million tonnes of plastic-waste leakage per year.
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Collected but Mismanaged
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74% of plastic leakage comes from waste that has been collected in Philippines. Most waste that is formally collected are disposed at open or controlled dump sites lacking sophisticated treatment or incineration options. With the country's extensive network of rivers and tributaries, there is a high chance that mismanaged waste from open dump sites located near would be intermittently carried into the waterways by heavy rains and currents. Waste pickers that live near these landfills strip incoming waste of valuable recyclable materials, leaving low-quality plastic waste in the mounting pile or to be swept away into the waters.
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Single-use Sachets
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According to GreenPeace, western consumer giants are also to play a part in Philippine's plastic problem. These companies sell products packaged in cheap and disposable plastic; single-use sachets, that usually ends up in landfill or as litter or marine debris. Nestle, Unilever and Procter & Gamble are among the worst culprits for these sales, as packaging products from these brands have stood out during the Greenpeace clean-up campaign at Manila Bay.
Danger: Flooding
In addition to the universal threats from plastic pollution such as marine life mortality, degradation of fisheries and compromised beach value, the Philippines faces deadly flooding. As mentioned in a TIME article, the Typhoon Ondoy in 2009 delivered extensive damage in the Muntinlupa district, Metro Manila, with 400 lives lost and properties ruined. Cleanups after the disaster revealed that trash; mainly plastics bags, caused the clogging of drainage systems, rendering them malfunctioned, thus exacerbating the overall damage by the disaster.
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This event sparked off NGOs and policy-makers to start advocating for plastic bag bans. The municipality adopted Ordinance 10-109 the following year, aimed to reduce and eliminate use of plastic bags and to encourage alternative packing materials such as cloth, paper, banana leaves etc.
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Ordinance 10-109:
“prohibiting the use of plastic bags on dry goods, regulating its utilization on wet goods and prohibiting the use of Styrofoam/styrophor in the city of Muntinlupa and prescribing the penalties thereof.” (Earth Justice, 2015)
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This was the first plastic ban in a Philippine urban area and promoted the “Bring Your Own Bag/Bayong” scheme (BYOB).
A PLASTIC SOLUTION FOR THE PHILLIPINES
“I want to get to a tonne of plastic – removed from the system. Real impact.”
— Ziggie Gonzales