House bill for biodegradable plastic bags OK'd on third reading

MANILA, Philippines - 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, or 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 requires the phaseout of non-biodegradable plastic bags within three years from the effectivity of the measure.

“The phaseout of plastic bags is a practical contribution to the collective efforts of solving the country’s environmental problems,” Pampanga Rep. Aurelio Gonzales, a co-author of the measure, said.

The bill mandates the placement of a plastic bag recovery bin at each store or cluster of stores. 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.

Caloocan City Rep. Oscar Malapitan, 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,” Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, another co-author of the bill, said.

The bill proposes that violators 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.

Among the other co-authors of the measure include Reps. Al Francis Bichara (Albay), Juan Edgardo Angara (Aurora), Maximo Rodriguez (Abante Mindanao party-list), Raymond DC Mendoza (TUCP party-list), Lani Mercado-Revilla (Cavite), Carmelo Lazatin (Pampanga), Marc Douglas Cagas IV (Davao del Sur), Mark Sambar (PBA party-list), Christopher Co (Ako-Bicol party-list), and Ma. Carmen Zamora-Apsay (Compostela Valley).