When local companies embark on programs to reduce their environmental footprint, show to all that environmental protection and business success can go hand in hand, and make being eco-friendly part of their DNA, this is something that we as a nation should celebrate.
There is more cause to celebrate, though, when such efforts pertain to plastic use. Our country uses about 163 million pieces of single-use sachet per day and about 300 million tons of plastic each year, causing some foreign media outfits to describe the problem as a plastic pollution crisis. The Philippines is, in fact, the third lar-gest source of discarded plastic that ends up in the ocean, next only to China and Indonesia.
Business conglomerate San Miguel Corp. recently announced that it is set to become the first Filipino company to utilize fully-certified biodegradable plastic packaging.
SMC president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang said that they are tapping Philippine Bioresins Corp. which has successfully developed and tested biodegradable plastics. The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Industrial Technology Development Institute has confirmed that biodegradable polypropylene produced by Philippine Bioresins will be 64.65 percent degraded in 24 months as compared to non-biodegradable plastics which will be degraded 4.5 percent in 24 months.
SMC will initially use the new packaging for food and non-food products such as cement and feed sacks, grocery bags, food and other single-use plastic packaging. Mr. Ang explained that what they will use, initially for cement packaging, is biodegradable plastic woven packaging, or sack, something proudly developed by Filipino inventors, using local materials and made by local workers.
The company’s cement business also currently buys plastic water bottles and bags for use as fuel for its cement plants. It also uses discarded rubber tires and industrial sewage waste as secondary fuel for its cement plants.
SMC has stopped its plastic bottled water business and has taken on the challenge to reduce groupwide non-product water use by 50 percent by 2025.
Last March, SMC started collaborating with leading materials science company Dow Chemical to study using hard-to-recycle plastics as an alternative raw material for road surfacing in order to reduce the volume of scrap plastics that end up in the landfills.
Another company that is also oing its share to save the environment in a big way is Manila Electric Co. or Meralco, which has banned the use of single-use plastic (SUP) products across its subsidiaries.
According to Meralco president and CEO Ray Espinosa, the protection of the environment is a collective obligation “that we not only owe to the communities we serve, but more importantly, the future generation. It is, therefore, incumbent upon us to ensure that we integrate sustainability in all areas of our operations and in our workplace to create a positive impact to the environment.”
The ban from all of its premises, activities, and corporate events was implemented starting Oct. 1 as part of its thrust to help save the country’s environment. The ban will also apply to Meralco’s subsidiaries and affiliated companies. Meralco’s supply chain partners have also been told to ensure full compliance with the ban effective Jan. 1, 2020.
Major victory
Advocates of electronic or e-cigarettes scored a major victory recently when the Pasig Regional Trial Court prevented the Department of Health and the Food and Drug Administration from implementing DOH Administrative Order no. 2019-0007 and/or from exercising jurisdiction over e-cigarettes.
The writ of preliminary injunction, issued by Pasig RTC Judge Ira Fritzie Cruz-Rojo, prevents the DOH and the DFA from implementing the said issuance until such time that the same court has acted on the main petition for declaratory relief and/or prohibition filed by one Ryan Leopando Sazon.
In the petition for declaratory relief and/or prohibition filed last July 26, Sazon assailed the validity and constitutionality of DOH AO 2019-0007, otherwise known as the Revised Rules and Regulations on Electronic Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS or ENDDS).
Sazon pointed out that while the signing of Republic Act no. 11346 effectively repealed the said DOH issuance because its provisions are inconsistent with the law, the DOH and FDA are still proceeding with the implementation of the administrative order to the grave prejudice of the petitioner and the whole e-cigarette industry.
RA 11346 increased the excise tax on tobacco products and imposed excise tax on heated tobacco products and vapor products.
According to the petitioner, the said DOH-FDA order limits the maximum allowed nicotine content of ENDS to 20 mg/ml or two percent, and the allowable maximum volume of liquid to only 10 ml while the Sin Tax Law allows for higher nicotine content and volume.
Sazon also said the respondents do not have the jurisdiction to regulate e-cigarettes, ENDS and ENDDS not being drugs, food, cosmetics, substances or devices, adding that the order amounts to an invalid exercise of police power since it violates petitioner’s right to due process and equal protection of the law.
In his petition, Sazon, who owns Planet Vape which sells vape and e-cigarettes, stressed that while no standards are required for nicotine-based products like cigarettes and heated tobacco products, the DOH-FD order requires any establishment engaged in the manufacturing, distributing, importing, exporting, selling of e-cigarettes to first secure a license to operate and marketing authorizations from the FDA.
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