CDO urges public to reduce plastic bottle use
Cagayan de Oro City, Philippine: The City Local Environment and Natural Resources Office (CLENRO) stepped up its campaign against plastic use, urging the public to reduce the use of plastic or polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles.
CLENRO assistant head Elvisa Mabelin noted that the city has seen the improvement from banning single-use plastics, but added that PET bottles remain floating in creeks and canals.”There’s a need to campaign on minimising the use of PET bottles, as there are replacements (for containers). Instead of buying mineral water (in PET bottles), why not bring containers,” Mabelin said.
Based on the recent waste analysis by CLENRO, Mabelin said PET bottles are found to be prevalent kind of plastic waste, as compared to other plastic-based materials. “We have cellophanes–low-density and high-density polyethylene plastics–and PVC (polyvinyl chloride) pipes, and the PET bottles which are usually found in water canals,” she said.
Noticeable reduction
Armen Cuenca, CLENRO head, said a year after the ban on single-use plastic there has been a noticeable reduction in the amount of plastic wastes in the city. “If we look at the sanitary landfill, we can see less plastic floating (in mid-air). We also saw that there were less plastic materials floating in water drainages,” he said, referring to a flood-prone highway in the city.
Cuenca said while the city is implementing a drainage rehabilitation program, the absence of plastics in the floodwater is an indicator that the banning of single-use plastic has been effective.
The ban on single-use plastic was implemented in January last year, following the passage of City Ordinance No. 13378-2018, otherwise known as the “Integrated Eco-biological Solid Waste Management Ordinance.”
Cuenca said the city’s continuing campaign against plastic is part of the office’s commitment to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), whose head, Secretary Roy Cimatu visited the city in February. “During his visit, Sec. Cimatu said that he has drafted an order that will ban single-use plastic (nationwide), but it was put on hold after plastic manufacturers appealed to give time in finding alternative means (in adjusting to the proposed order),” he said.
