PPA ports ban single-use plastics from July 18

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Image by Manfred Richter from Pixabay
  • Starting July 18, single-use plastic products such as drinking straws and utensils will be prohibited for use in all ports, facilities, and offices under the jurisdiction of the Philippine Ports Authority
  • PPA Memorandum Circular No. 11-2021 was issued in compliance with National Solid Waste Management Commission Resolution No. 1363 directing a ban on unnecessary use of single-use plastic products in government agencies
  • The ban includes plastic cups thinner than 0.2 millimeters, plastic drinking straws, plastic spoons, plastic forks, plastic knives, plastic coffee stirrers, and plastic labo and thinned-filmed sando bags

Starting July 18, single-use plastic products such as drinking straws and utensils will be prohibited for use in all ports, facilities, and offices under the jurisdiction of the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA).

The new policy contained in PPA Memorandum Circular (MC) No. 11-2021 is in compliance with National Solid Waste Management Commission Resolution No. 1363, which directs the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to ban the unnecessary use of single-use plastic products in government agencies, local government units, and other government-controlled offices.

DENR said the ban forms part of the government’s “solid waste avoidance and minimization strategy” and is seen as a “major step to curb the use of single-use plastic items that pollute our waterways, kill marine life and contribute to our country’s increasing solid waste.”

Under MC 11-2021, the ban includes plastic cups thinner than 0.2 millimeters, plastic drinking straws, plastic spoons, plastic forks, plastic knives, plastic coffee stirrers, and plastic labo and thinned-filmed sando bags thinner than 15 microns.

Guidelines that may be issued by DENR on single-use plastics will also form part of MC 11-2021.