The enactment of Republic Act 11898, otherwise known as the Extended Producers Responsibility (EPR) Law, is a bold step to further address the country’s waste problems. Manufacturers, including cement companies, and plastic products manufacturers under the Philippine Plastics Industry Association (PPIA) and the Philippine Alliance for Recycling and Materials Sustainability (PARMS), and the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector members, are now all preparing for the implementation of the new law. These groups cited the law as a landmark legislation, boosting the earlier efforts by the government in the implementation of Republic Act No. 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, which is an integrated solid waste management approach based on the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, and recycle). The EPR law requires large companies to recover the plastic packaging waste they are producing, meaning; these enterprises are mandated to be environmentally responsible throughout the life cycle of their products, especially at their post-consumer or end-of-life stage. Covered companies or enterprises should recover wastes they produced through: (1) Buy-back; (2) Collection for reuse/recycling; (3) Clean-up of wastes; (4) Establishment of recycling, composting, thermal treatment, and other waste diversion or disposal facilities. Beginning Dec. 31, 2023, covered companies are required to recover at least 20 percent of their plastic footprint in 2022. The rate of recovery increases every year until it reaches 80 percent recovery rate on Dec. 31, 2028 and every year thereafter. The failure to implement recovery measures will be penalized through fines ranging from P5 million to ₱20 million. In the case of cement firms, they can undertake co-processing. It is a solution that converts residual wastes such as plastics into alternative fuels for cement kilns that forms part of the process in making cement. With co-processing, this avoids methane emissions in landfills since non-recyclable wastes are redirected instead to cement kilns. Methane has a global warming potential of 80x higher than CO2 in the first 20 years of release. Co-processing is a sustainable solution and supports a circular economy making it a perfect solution for EPR compliance not just at 20 percent recovery rate but even as high as 100 percent recovery thereby achieving the plastic neutrality goal of covered companies in the EPR law. In addition, the passage of the EPR law creates an opportunity for Public-Private Partnership in waste management. New opportunities are expected to arise from the important role of EPR systems, which will usher in a practical approach to waste management, focusing on waste reduction, recovery and diversion, and the development of environment-friendly products. For its part, the PPIA emphasized that the domestic plastics manufacturing industry are strongly advocating for the circular economy path to be taken not only in solving the plastic waste problem in the country but also to perk up the local economy. A World Bank study estimated a potential P100 billion revenues in pushing for the waste plastics circularity roadmap. The group is pushing for partnership with local government units and civil society in promoting public consciousness, awareness, and education on EPR towards sustainable consumption and production practices that are necessary in bolstering a circular economy. Though a developing country, the Philippines is in step with the rest of the world in fighting against climate change and ensuring sustainability.