Private and government stakeholders have joined forces in coming up with a common ground to identify single-use plastic items that will be included in the roster of “non-environmentally accepted products and packaging (NEAP) materials.
Through the department of Environment and Natural resources (DENR), the National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC) said Sunday that it recently held a nationwide public consultation to discuss the environmental concern.
DENR Secretary and NSWMC chairman Roy A. Cimatu, organized the January 22 virtual consultation as adverse environmental issues have steadily plagued the country through the years.
Some 169 representatives from the local government units (LGUs), private sector and key stakeholders from civil society groups, including Ecowaste Coalition and Oceana Philippines participated in the meeting.
During the public consultation, Reynaldo Esguerra of the Department of Science and Technology-Industrial Technology Development Institute (DOST-ITDI) being a NSWMC member presented the results of a study conducted from October to December 2020.
The study titled "Findings on the Assessment Conducted on Certain Products for Inclusion in the Non-Environmentally Acceptable Products (NEAP) List" focused on the assessment of single-use plastic straws, commonly used for softdrink and coffee stirrers and its equivalent alternative materials.
Based on the rapid risk assessment conducted on four items, glass straws posed the highest score with 25 points, followed by metal straws, 23; plastic, 17; and paper straws, 10.
Esguerra said the higher the score, the greater the risk.
He noted that a wood stirrer has a risk assessment score of 10, and 16 for plastic stirrers.
DENR Undersecretary for Solid Waste Management and Local Government Units (LGUs) Concerns and NSWMC Alternate chairman Benny D. Antiporda said “conducting the consultation is a key moment on our work on NEAP," noting that coming up with the list of NEAP is anticipated.
Antiporda noted that “rest assured that this NEAP will not be left behind’’ acknowledging that the establishment of the NEAP list is long overdue.
He also expressed optimism over the formulation and adoption of the list of NEAP due to the renewed vigor to engage stakeholders in implementing Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 under President Duterte's administration.
Antiporda added that the NSWMC will remain transparent on the recommendations in the NEAP list.
“ RA (Republic act) 9003 provides that the NSWMC shall, after public notice and hearing, prepare a list of non-environmentally acceptable products as defined in the act that shall be prohibited according to a schedule to be prepared by the commission,’’ the DENR said.
The DENR also pointed out that the NEAP "shall not be prohibited until the commission finds there are alternatives available to consumers at a cost that is no more than 10 percent greater than the disposable product."