In a bid to further address waste generation and protect the region’s river system against prolonged plastic pollution, some single-use plastics will soon be a thing of the past within the office premises of the regional office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in the City of San Fernando, Pampanga.
This as DENR-Central Luzon executive director Paquito Moreno, Jr., issued a memorandum banning employees and caterers from bringing or using single-use plastics or disposable plastics such as cups, straws, cutlery, thin-filmed sando bags, and Styrofoam, among others.
Moreno also called on all government agencies at the Diosdado Macapagal Government Center in Barangay Maimpis in the said city and local government units (LGUs) to follow suit.
“We consider this initiative as a big leap in our fight against plastic pollution, which poses danger to the environment and hampers the fulfillment of cleaning our water bodies, specifically those that drain to Manila Bay,” Moreno said.
Moreno also bared that a mandatory policy of “No Baonan, No Food” will be put in place, requiring employees to bring their individual food containers and eco-bags before buying food and goods at the canteen inside the regional office of the environment agency.
He added that during in-house meetings and trainings at the regional office, participants are required to bring their own tumblers. Caterers are also advised to provide water dispenser and drinking glass.
“We hope that this practice would be adopted by all regional agencies here in the government center including the local government units to create a big impact in saving our environment,” he added.
Studies showed that each year 20 percent of at least 2.7 million tons of plastic wastes generated in the country end up in the ocean.
In Central Luzon, a large volume of collected wastes from cleanup activities are made up of single-used plastics, such as plastic bags, bottles, straws, and food wrappers.
A massive cleanup efforts initiated by the regional department from January to August this year resulted in some 23,000 tons of wastes removed from major river systems and tributaries of Manila Bay in Central Luzon.