The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has expressed support support for Senate Bill (SB) 2425, which obligates manufacturers and producers to manage their plastic packaging waste properly.
In a statement released on Saturday, Feb. 5, DENR Secretary Roy A. Cimatu said that the department supports the initiative to include the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in the Republic Act (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 on the 21st-anniversary celebration of RA 9003.
SB 2425 was passed on the third and final reading last Jan. 31 to institutionalize EPR and amend RA 9003.
Cimatu said that EPR is a practical approach to efficient waste management, waste reduction, and the development of environmentally-friendly packaging products. It also promotes sustainable consumption production — emphasizing the full responsibility of producers.
"We need not just a whole-of-government but also a whole-of-society approach to reduce the residual waste stream to zero in the circular economy that we are pushing for," he said.