Makati City deployed 49 teams on Thursday to check businesses for compliance with a ban on plastic bags that Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay ordered implemented by this month.
The ban was enacted into a city ordinance in 2003 but establishments were given a nine-year grace period to find alternatives to plastic bags. That grace period was further extended to June 20 to “give establishments ample time to deplete their inventories and replace these with environment-friendly materials.” the city government said.
With the deadline up, teams have been deputized to fine those using, selling, and distributing plastic and other non-biodegradable packaging materials like polystyrene P1,000 or from five to thirty days in jail.
Establishments found violating the ban face fines of P5,000. The court can also have the business owner imprisoned for 30 days and their business permits may be revoked.
According to Department of Environmental Services chief Danilo Villas, members of the Plastic Monitoring Task Force that will enforce the ban were briefed on Tuesday on which kinds of packaging are banned.
Establishments are prohibited from using plastic or styrofoam as packaging for dry goods. Wet goods like produce, snack foods, frozen foods, and hardware may come in plastic as their “primary” packaging but must use biodegradable materials for secondary packaging.
Instead, establishments will provide paper, cloth, or woven bags either free or for a fee.
Products like bottled water, ice tea, cooking oil, alcohol, mayonnaise, jelly, peanut butter, and coco jam that come in plastic jars and bottles are exempted from the ban. Products that come in plastic sachets are also exempted
The ban is meant to reduce plastic waste. Plastic bags, often discarded after use, clog up drains and waterways and contribute to flooding.
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Flooding along Pasong Tamo in Makati City/Photo: Twitter user @jajabulous
The implementation of the ban comes a day after the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Metro Manila Development Authority gave a briefing on a long-term flood plan for Metro Manila. MMDA chairman Francis Tolentino said then that the metro’s esteros accumulate more than 400 truckloads of trash a month.
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Photo: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
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