Things may get worse and seas and oceans can become a huge garbage dump in the near future with a collapsed marine ecosystem.
The Philippines’ dubious distinction as one of the world’s biggest plastic polluters created a buzz among netizens last week.
Major Philippine and global companies should take the blame for the notoriety. Things may get worse and seas and oceans can become a huge garbage dump in the near future with a collapsed marine ecosystem.
UNDP Philippines, the local chapter of the United Nations Development Program, earlier this year painted a grim picture of the pollution crisis. Millions of Filipinos are heavily dependent on coastal and marine resources that are now threatened by marine plastics.
“Its emerging economy contributes to the increase in plastic generation. This is alongside the permeation of the ‘sachet economy’ that most Filipinos are used to, partly driven by the small purchasing capacity of most of the population,” says Dr. Selva Ramachandran, UNDP Philippines resident representative.
The penchant for buying products in plastic sachets—from candies and shampoos to coffee mixes and soft drinks—has made the Philippines one of the main contributors to marine plastic pollution. The country generates about 2.7 million tons of plastic waste, with over 500,000 tons ending up in the seas and oceans every year.
The UNDP has estimated that more than 400 million tons of plastic are produced worldwide every year, with one third used only once.
“If that is not concerning enough, the equivalent of over 2,000 garbage trucks full of plastic is dumped into the world’s oceans, rivers, and lakes every single day. This is primarily why our seas and oceans are choking with mismanaged plastic wastes, which end up infiltrating even the food that we eat,” Ramachandran notes.
Studies have shown that the food and beverage sector accounts for 31.1 percent of plastic pollution in the world, with bottle and container caps contributing 15.5 percent. Plastic bags account for 11.2 percent while beverage bottles and containers share 7.3 percent.
The top global plastic polluters of 2023 were identified as The Coca-Cola Co., Nestlé, Unilever, PepsiCo, Mondelēz International, Mars Inc., Procter & Gamble, Danone, Altria and British American Tobacco.
Here in the Philippines, Coca-Cola, Nestle, and Universal Robina Corp. of the Gokongwei Group were listed as some of the top plastic polluters.
In his published article titled Planet vs Plastics: Transitioning to Circular Economy, Mr. Ramachandran said wastes pose a broad challenge that affects human health, livelihoods, the environment and prosperity. The waste pollution, especially from plastics, he says, is pushing our planet further to the brink of irreversible loss and damage.”
“Left unattended, these wastes will continue to pile up and choke our soil, waterways, and seas, and will result to the degradation of our ecosystem and the increase of public health issues, in turn affecting the production potential of resources upon which millions of Filipino households depend on,” he warns.
The UNDP official offered circular economy as a solution in breaking the cycle of plastic pollution.
“The circular economy approach enables us to extend the lifecycle of products, thus minimizing our material footprint, reducing wastes to a minimum, and more importantly, open massive economic opportunities in the value chain, involving manufacturing materials for sustainable packaging, recycling, reuse, sharing, refurbishing, and repairing, among others,” says Ramachandran.
For the World Bank, open landfills near waterways contribute to the migration of plastic wastes into the open sea. As the World Bank noted in a recent study, emerging markets like the Philippines have been hardest hit by the plastic pollution crisis.
The World Bank in a recent study observed that unrecycled plastic is either deposited in landfills or discarded freely in the environment.
The bank said it has led to a buildup of plastic waste in sewers, stormwater drainages, rivers and the sea, leading to human health and sanitation risks, clogged infrastructure and flooding and economic losses for sea-based industries, including fisheries, tourism and shipping.
As I’ve said last week, major Philippine companies that contribute a lot to plastic pollution should do more to avoid an irreversible trend. We should remove the stigma of the Philippines as the world’s third biggest contributor to plastic pollution.
E-mail: rayenano@yahoo.com
