Nearly 900 companies have registered with the Republic Act No. 11898 or the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Act of 2022, which holds companies accountable for managing the environmental impact of their product packaging throughout its life cycle.
This was disclosed by DENR Undersecretary Jonas Leones during the Philippine National Recycling Conference held at Mariott Hotel Manila in Pasay City on Thursday, February 22.
A total of 876 firms have so far registered with the EPR Law, the official said.
Leones attributed the increase in the number of registrants to the DENR’s partnerships with the private sector.
“We are expecting that the number of registrants will increase as we implement online registration,” he added.
The DENR official urged companies covered by the EPR Law to register online at: https://epr.emb.gov.ph.
“We encourage our colleagues from the industry, from the private sector, if you have known some industries who have not yet registered, you can encourage them to register otherwise we will be implementing the sanctions provided for under the EPR,” said Leones.
According to the DENR, the EPR law mandates that covered firms, called Obliged Enterprises, register their EPR programs with the DENR-led National Solid Waste Management Commission.
“Obliged Enterprises are defined as companies with total assets exceeding ₱100 million. They can opt to have their own programs, work as a Collective, or be part of a Producer Responsibility Organization,” the environment department noted.
The agency noted that the EPR law specifies that Obliged Enterprises recover 20 percent of their generated plastic product footprint by the end of 2023 with incremental targets for fulfillment each year, until 80 percent is reached by 2028.
“Brand owners, product manufacturers, or importers of consumer goods who implement EPR initiatives will be eligible for tax incentives,” it stated.
The environment department warned that fines ranging from P5 million to P20 million will be levied for non-compliance with the law's provisions and target recovery rates.
In September last year, the DENR reported that 709 enterprises had submitted their EPR plans.
The agency explained that such plans are designed to effectively manage plastic waste by eliminating unnecessary plastic packaging of products, developing more environmentally friendly and recyclable packaging, and recovering waste plastic packaging.
There are at least 4,000 large enterprises in the Philippines, per the data of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).