Last week, we held a session focused on helping obliged enterprises (OE) understand how to comply with the Extended Producers' Responsibility Act (EPR) in the Philippines, which lapsed into law in July 2022. Earlier that week, the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) was also released. Under the IRR, OEs are expected to initiate efforts on plastic recovery and diversion schemes as mandated by the EPR.
In the session, we were graced by the presence of high-ranking officials who were instrumental in the passage and continued implementation of the EPR. If not for them, this bold government action would not have been possible.
The expert panel assembled not only to express support for the EPR but also answered questions from the different stakeholder groups, notably the OEs that are required to submit their EPR programs by February 13th.
Nanette Medved Po, Founder and Executive Chairperson of PCX was followed by informative presentations and messages of support from Congressman Rufus Rodriguez (author of the bill in the Congress), Senator Cynthia Villar (principal author of the bill in the Senate), Committee Secretary on Ecology Atty. Dilbert Quetulio, DENR-EMB Pollution Adjudication Board Member Atty. Ivy De Pedro, and Atty. Zolio Andin (consultant for the IRR under UNDP).
Congressman Rodriguez instills motivation in the OEs by highlighting the importance of the law. “This law is very important because huge amounts of plastic waste that are uncollected and leaked into nature or are filling out our limited sanitary landfill space, they threaten our health and environment. We are EPR warriors! We are the warriors to make sure that the EPR law will be implemented properly and effectively.”
Meanwhile, Senator Villar expressed her gratitude for PCX whose constant backing contributed essential components to the law. “PCX is one of the organizations that gave us valuable inputs on EPR. I’m glad that Plastic Credit Exchange is one of the organizations that will be instrumental in the implementation of the EPR as it advocates for a circular economy and it has so far built a network of partners who recover, process, and recycle plastic waste.”
"We at PCX have the privilege to see every day in action the businesses who are trying to be a force for good and we hope to continue to be able to assist you in your aspiration for a cleaner and healthier Philippines," said Nanette Medved Po to close out the session.
The discussion lasted just shy of two hours, but we've compiled some of the most powerful parts in this 3-minute video. For those of you who might have missed it, you can view the session in its entirety here.
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