Bad habits, lack of bins hinder plastic bottle recycling in Southeast Asia — study
MANILA, Philippines — Lack of recycling bins and storage space for recyclables are the top barriers to recycling single-use plastic bottles in Southeast Asia, a study of a Singapore-based consumer research firm suggested.
In a study released ahead of World Environment Day, Milieu Insight said the lack of easily-accessible recycling chutes or areas (44%), inadequate storage space for materials for recycling (43%), and the habit of disposing of plastic waste instead of recycling (35%) were cited by Southeast Asian consumers as their top reasons for not recycling.
“It is a cause of concern to observe that many consumers remain relatively complacent and continue to cite inconvenience as a reason for not recycling, especially when a significant majority of nearly eight in 10 respondents agree that single-use plastic bottles present a pressing environmental problem,” the research firm said.
No place to put plastics
Fifty-two percent of Southeast Asian respondents said they would be more inclined to recycle if recycling areas were more accessible.
Forty-four percent of consumers in the region said the availability of a designated space to store their recyclables and another 44% said that reward, whether monetary or non-monetary, would encourage them to engage in recycling more often.
In the Philippines, the top motivators for recycling were the presence of areas to keep recyclables (49%), more accessible recycling bins (44%), when people around them are also recycling (43%), and when they have the time to recycle (39%).
‘Readily available’ plastic bottles
According to the poll, only 7% of the Filipino respondents rely on single-use plastic bottles for their water consumption as half depend on larger and reusable plastic bottles used in water dispensers.
But 70% of the Filipino respondents said they consume products in plastic bottles because those are readily available.
Twenty-six percent of the Filipinos surveyed said they always recycle plastic bottles, and 25% said they often do it after drinking water. Meanwhile, 35% said they sometimes recycle plastic bottles, 17% said they rarely do it, and only 3% said never.
The study also found that 88% of Filipinos strongly agree that everyone has a part to play in reducing single-use plastic bottles.
Milieu Insight surveyed 1,000 respondents in Singapore and 500 respondents each in the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia. The survey was conducted in May.
‘Ban single-use plastics’
This year’s World Environment Day focuses on solutions to plastic pollution.
Oceana Philippines renewed its call to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the National Solid Waste Commission to ban single-use plastic in the country.
“They had the chance to turn off the tap and avoid the onslaught of plastics and microplastics in the air and in the ocean more than 20 years ago, but they reneged on their mandate under the law to ban single-use plastics,” said Rose Liza Eisma-Osorio, acting vice president and legal and policy director of Oceana Philippines.
According to a study of the Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology, residents of Metro Manila are at risk of inhaling microplastics in the environment.
An earlier study of the DENR’s Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau found microplastics in 10 study sites, with the Tañon Strait Protected Seascape—the country’s largest protected seascape and major fishing ground topping the list—having the highest density.
In a briefing Monday, Environment Secretary Antonia Loyzaga acknowledged that the country is “not winning the war against single use-plastics.”
“If we cannot address the social issue, we will not be able to address the use of single-use plastic especially for certain sectors of our economy,” she said. Sachets give the country’s poorest people access to everyday household essentials.
The country has an Extended Producer Responsibility law, which aims to address the mismanagement of plastic waste and uphold circularity by requiring large enterprises to recover or offset their plastic packaging footprint.
Over the weekend, around 170 countries agreed to develop a first draft a much needed international treaty to combat plastic pollution by the end of November.
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