EcoWaste: Plastic still top cause of Manila Bay pollution

Discarded plastic remains the top cause of waste pollution in Manila Bay, the latest waste audit of an international coalition of environmental groups said. EcoWaste Coalition said it conducted the audit with 13 other organizations, the results of which showed that discarded plastic accounted for nearly 75 percent of the waste recovered from Manila Bay. "Of the 728 liters of collected debris, 75.55 percent was composed of plastic discards, mostly plastic bags and polystyrene products," Ecowaste said on its blogsite. "Biodegradables [are a] far second at 10.99 percent; glass, 5.77 percent; metals, 2.2 percent; hazardous waste, 1.38 percent; and rubber, .55 percent," it added. The audit was part of the 9th Global Day of Action against Waste and Incineration, and as part of the 10th anniversary of both Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) and Greenpeace Southeast Asia. The audit showed that the following were collected in Manila Bay:

• Plastic bags, 27.75 percent
• Composite, 10.3 percent
• Polystyrene/Styro, 20.74 percent
• Hard Plastics, 10.05 percent
• Plastic Bottles, 1.65 percent
• Rubber, .55 percent
• Metal, 2.2 percent
• Glass, 5.77 percent
• Hazardous Waste, 1.38 percent
• Biodegradable, 10.99 percent
• Disposable Diapers, 2.06 percent
• Others, 3.57 percent

Plastic also topped 2006 audit The groups also conducted a waste audit of the heavily polluted Manila Bay in 2006. Some 728 liters of waste were collected and segregated into 12 classifications: plastic bags, composites, polystyrene, hard plastics, plastic bottles, hazardous wastes, rubber, metal, glass, biodegradables, nappies, and other discards. GAIA said the 2006 waste audit results showed plastic discards also ranked number one at 76% among the categories of solid waste polluting Manila Bay. “Considering the outgoing current, we still collected quite a volume of trash and it is unfortunate that plastic items led by plastic bags and styro products remain to be the prime visible pollutants of Manila Bay," said GAIA's Gigie Cruz. "Our findings today reinforced what all of us already know: plastics [are] a problem and our penchant for patronizing disposable products magnifies this problem," Cruz said. “Fortunately, there are now bills in Congress which propose to phase out, ban and tax plastic bags, and they have our full support," she added. GAIA cited three House bills (HB) — HB 127 (authored by Rep. Al Francis Bichara), HB 651 (Rep. Sonny Angara) and HB 2109 (Reps. Rufus Rodriguez and Maximo Rodriguez Jr.) which:

• impose a plastic bag levy;
• mandate the use of recyclable or biodegradable materials for the packaging of consumer products; and
• ban plastic bags in groceries, restaurants and other establishments.

“We can only do so much cleaning visible trash, but toxic discharges which are actually more harmful remain invisible. In line with Zero Waste principles, Greenpeace is calling for a mandatory pollution disclosure system that will be the first step to eliminate these hidden toxics in our waters," said Beau Baconguis, Greenpeace toxics campaigner for Southeast Asia. – VVP/VS, GMANews.TV