Osmeña backs total plastic ban

CEBU, Philippines — The proposed amendment to the ordinance on the use of plastics gets the support of Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña.

Osmeña and Department of Public Services head Roberto Cabarrubias expressed their full support for the passage of the amendatory measure seeking to totally ban the use of plastic bags in the city.

The existing ordinance only prohibits the use of plastic bags every Wednesday and Saturday.

“Yes, that’s very good. We should ban plastics. I’m trying to figure out how we can ban plastic bottles. We should ban plastic bottles also because one of the major causes of our drainage is plastic bottles. We have to solve that problem,” the mayor told reporters.

Osmeña said the city’s garbage will be reduced if the ban will be implemented. The mayor said the measure would address the drainage problem and the ill effects of plastics to the environment.

Osmeña believes that the imposition of plastic ban may reduce the garbage collected daily by 50 percent. The mayor hoped that he could find ways to include the plastic bottles that will be banned in the city.

“Molutaw ang botelya sa atong drainage. They occupy so much space ba, including straws. But bottles to me is bigger problem. Atong bantayan ang mga non-biodegradable, dili malata, because they will stay there in the next 300 years,” he added.

Councilor Raymond Alvin Garcia has proposed to amend the existing ordinance on the plastic bag prohibition in the city. Cabarrubias said the DPS collects an average of 580 tons of garbage every day.

He said he could not identify the percentage of plastics in the average collection as of now since the barangays are also doing their collection.

“Dako gyud og tabang ang plastic ban if ma- implement kay mapugos man og balik sa buyot ang mga tao. Maka-reduce sa atong garbage collection ug labi na sa atong drainage,” he said.

Cabarrubias said the segregation at source, which is being implemented by the city, has also contributed to the 20 percent reduction of the garbage collection.

Before the policy, he said DPS can collect at least 600 to 610 tons of garbage per day. He hoped that the plastic ban will also be implemented. The City Council has scheduled a public hearing today on the amendatory ordinance of Garcia. (FREEMAN)