AUGUST 27, 2011

NR # 2508B

House approves bill regulating use of plastic bags

The House of Representatives has approved on third and final reading a measure regulating the use of plastic bags and establishing a recovery system to reduce their volume in the environment, landfills and waterways. House Bill 4840, to be known as the Plastic Bag Regulation Act of 2011, requires operators of commercial establishments to provide biodegradable plastic bags to consumers and to establish an in-store recovery program that will give customers opportunity to return used plastic bags to establishments where the plastic bags originated. HB 4840 also requires that a logo showing it is a biodegradable plastic or the words saying Please return to any store for recycling be printed or displayed on the plastic bag. The bill mandates the placement of a plastic bag recovery bin at each store or cluster of stores, which shall be visible and accessible to the customers. The Local Government Units (LGUs) are given the primary responsibility to decrease the percentage of plastic bag wastes produced within their respective territorial jurisdictions. They shall be tasked to collect, recycle and dispose of all plastic bags recovered by the stores. Rep. Oscar Malapitan (1st District, Caloocan City), principal author of the bill, said the recovery system will lead citizens to exert effort and give their due share in protecting the environment by bringing used plastic bags to stores and commercial establishments which in turn shall provide the logistics for recovery of these plastic shopping bags. The State must ensure that contaminants to the environment, such as plastic and plastic bags, be prevented from being introduced into the ecosystem, said Rep. Rufus Rodriguez (2 nd District, Cagayan de Oro), a co-author of the bill. HB 4840 requires the phase out of non-biodegradable plastic bags within three years from the effectivity of the measure. The phase-out of plastic bags is a practical contribution to the collective efforts of solving the countrys environmental problems, said Rep. Aurelio Gonzales (3 rd District, Pampanga), also a co-author of the measure. Those who violate the proposed Act shall be fined P100,000 for the first offense, P250,000 for the second offense and P500,000 for the third offense. A fourth offense would mean a fine of P750,000 and automatic revocation of the business permit of the establishment. Other co-authors of the measure include Reps. Al Francis Bichara (2nd District, Albay), Juan Edgardo Angara (Lone District, Aurora), Maximo Rodriguez (PL - ABANTE MINDANAO), Raymond DC Mendoza (PL TUCP), Lani Mercado-Revilla (2nd District, Cavite), Carmelo Lazatin (1st District, Pampanga), Marc Douglas Cagas IV (1st District, Davao del Sur), Mark Sambar (PL-PBA), Christopher Co (PL - AKO BICOL), and Ma. Carmen Zamora-Apsay (1st District, Compostela Valley), among others. (30) aam