OVER 150 show-cause letters have been issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to companies that violated a law making them responsible for recovering and recycling their plastic packaging waste, Malacañang said on Thursday.
Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro told a briefing that the DENR was actively monitoring compliance to ensure that companies follow the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) law that was enacted in 2022.
“The agency issued 155 show-cause letters to enterprises that do not comply with their EPR obligations,” Castro said in Filipino.
The announcement came amid complaints that heavy plastic pollution had contributed to the massive flooding that hit Metro Manila in recent days.
Castro emphasized that plastic waste comprised the majority of debris behind the flooding, necessitating strict accountability from private corporations alongside public discipline.
“There really needs to be more responsibility, there needs to be implementation, there needs to be compliance, and there needs to be obligation, not just the government, but all of us, especially our countrymen, residents, and entities or corporations,” she said.
Under the EPR Act, or Republic Act 11898, large enterprises are legally mandated to recover and recycle their plastic packaging “footprints.”
It operates through a “carrot and stick mechanism,” requiring businesses to meet progressive annual recovery targets of 20 percent in 2023, 40 percent in 2024, 60 percent in 2026 and 80 percent by 2028.
Amid ongoing non-compliance investigations, audited figures from 2024 have shown promising results among businesses that are following the law. Ocean and land recovery rates were said to have reached 59.98 percent for rigid plastics and 56.33 percent for flexible plastics, exceeding the 40-percent goal.
“For companies that cannot recover their plastic waste, their footprint, or not being able to comply with the requirements of the law, they will face a multi-million peso fine,” Castro said.
The DENR was said to be actively auditing corporate recovery reports to determine which non-responsive firms would be formally sanctioned or publicly recognized for exceeding targets.
The department on Thursday, meanwhile, urged all local government units (LGUs) and the public to strengthen solid waste management and undertake preventive measures given possible further flooding due to heavy monsoon rains.
“Habagat (the Southwest Monsoon) is a natural phenomenon, but the waste that ends up in waterways is something that can be prevented,” Environment Secretary Juan Miguel Cuna said.
Heavy rainfall and flooding can carry and displace waste and the proper management of solid waste before, during, and after severe weather events is critical to preventing garbage from reaching canals, creeks, rivers, shorelines and the Manila Bay, the DENR said.
Proper solid waste management is not simply a matter of cleanliness, it added.
Citing Republic Act 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, the DENR said that LGUs are primarily responsible for implementing solid waste management in their jurisdictions, including segregation, collection, recovery, recycling, composting and proper disposal.
The law likewise prohibits littering and dumping in public places, including canals and esteros, and open dumping or burying of waste in flood-prone areas.
“The DENR, through the Environmental Management Bureau, continues to work with LGUs to strengthen compliance with RA 9003 by monitoring solid waste management plans and facilities, requiring corrective measures for identified deficiencies and providing technical assistance and capacity-building support to improve waste avoidance, recovery, composting, recycling and the proper treatment and disposal of residual waste,” Cuna said.
To support these efforts, the DENR said it has implemented initiatives including the establishment of 196 trash traps in Metro Manila to intercept floating debris and prevent waste from choking waterways.
The public, meanwhile, was reminded to segregate at source, follow collection schedules, avoid littering and dumping into canals, creeks and waterways and properly secure household waste.
“Every piece of waste kept out of our waterways is one less obstruction to drainage and one less piece of pollution that can reach our rivers, coasts and seas,” Cuna said.
