Filipinos favor banning single-use plastics, according to a recent survey commissioned by the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives and conducted by the Social Weather Stations.
GAIA in a statement said this highlighted the Filipino people’s strong support for a national ban on single-use plastics (SUPs).
The nationwide survey showed that seven out of 10 Filipinos felt the best thing to do with SUPs was to ban their use at all times.
Topping the list of materials that should be regulated or used less nationally is sando bags (71 percent), followed by plastic straws and stirrers (66 percent), plastic labo bags (65 percent), styrofoam or polystyrene food containers (64 percent), sachets (60 percent), Tetra pack or doy pack for juices (59 percent), plastic drinking cups (56 percent), cutlery such as plastic spoons and forks (54 percent), plastic bottles for juice (49 percent), and plastic bottles for water (41 percent).
In addition, 6 out of 10 said they were willing to buy their food condiments in recyclable or refillable containers instead of sachets while 4 out of 10 feel that companies should find alternative materials to plastic.
“The message to political leaders and business is clear: Filipinos reject single-use plastics. By supporting a ban on SUPs, the Filipino consumer is also sending a message to the plastic industry and manufacturers that plastic pollution and throwaway systems are no longer acceptable,” said Beau Baconguis, Break Free From Plastic Asia Pacific coordinator.
More than 120 have instituted regulatory measures such as bans, levies, charges, and others, aimed at reducing the production and consumption of SUPs.
The most recent SUP regulations were by Bangladesh, Thailand, and China, the Indian state of Kerala and the Indonesian City of Jakarta.
Further, according to the same survey, 71 percent of Filipinos want to ban the use of plastic at all times while 10 percent feel there is a need to ask the user of plastic to pay higher.
“The results of the survey puts into question the common excuse from the big companies that sachets are pro-poor,” said Froilan Grate, GAIA Philippines executive director. According to the survey, those who are willing to buy their food condiments in recyclables and refillables and those who feel that plastic must be regulated or be used less nationally is highest in Class E at 73 percent. “Sachets and other SUPs are not pro-poor. People buy in sachets because an alternative distribution or packaging system are not being made available by multinational companies.”
For Patricia Nicdao, Ecowaste Coalition Policy and Advocacy officer, the Philippines urgently needs a law that will ban single-use plastics at the national level.
“We have to act now. The people have spoken. The government needs to pass a law banning single-use plastics. We cannot afford any more excuses and delays,” Nicdao said.