Plastic Straws, Stirrers Included In Non-Environmentally Acceptable Products List

NON-ENVIRONMENTALLY ACCEPTABLE PRODUCTS – Plastic straws and coffee stirrers are added to the list of non-environmentally acceptable products.

The two items were added to the said list, which has the acronym NEAP, by the National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC). They are more likely to be banned as part of the implementation of Republic Act (RA) 9003, or known as the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, according to the Manila Bulletin.

The draft resolution to consider the two as NEAP was deliberated upon in a virtual en banc meeting presided by Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Undersecretary for Solid Waste Management and Local Government Units (LGUs) Concerns and NSWMC Alternate Chair Benny Antiporda.

11 en banc members voted to include the two items, while three voted against it. The approved resolution came in time of celebrating the International Straw Free Day on Wednesday, February 3.

“This global celebration aims to encourage the public to go straw-free and say ‘no straw please’ when ordering drinks,”

The resolution was passed albeit opposition coming from some members of the Commission such as the Department of Trade and Industry, the manufacturing and recycling industries.

According to Section 29 of RA 9003, “within one (1) year from the effectivity of this Act, the Commission shall, after public notice and hearing, prepare a list of non-environmentally acceptable products as defined in this Act that shall be prohibited according to a schedule that shall be prepared by the Commission.”

It was, however, two decades after the Act was passed that the Commission came up with the NEAP list, based on the report.