Philippines' Duterte warms to idea of banning plastics

MANILA, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo
Duterte has proposed banning plastic, his spokesman said on
Thursday, which could provide the impetus needed for the
Congress of one of the world's top plastic polluters to pass
environment protection laws.
The Philippines, which ranks among the world's worst ocean
polluters, has a law on solid waste but it is poorly enforced
and it does not regulate packaging manufacturing.
Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said Duterte
mentioned the possibility of a plastics ban during a discussion
on climate change in a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
"The president floated the idea to ban the use of plastics,
which according to him would require legislative action," Panelo
told reporters without elaborating.
Several bills aimed at combating plastic pollution are
pending in Congress, including a proposal by boxing star and
senator, Manny Pacquiao, to ban single-use plastics, but none of
the measures are close to becoming law.
The Philippines ranked third in the world for failing to
deal with its plastics, according to a 2015 study by the
University of Georgia, which said 81 percent of its plastics
waste was mismanaged.
Plastic waste has reached worrying proportions in the
Philippines, which has the fifth longest coastline in the world,
given the staggering amount of throw away plastic used.
A recent study by environment group the Global Alliance for
Incinerator Alternatives showed that close to 60 billion pieces
of sachets and 34 billion pieces of plastic bags are discarded
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When plastic is not fantastic IMG https://tmsnrt.rs/2Z59WzE
Slave to sachets: How poverty worsens the plastics crisis in the
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