This photo taken on September 18, 2019 shows a man sorting plastic items from piles of trash to be sold at recycling shops in Manila.MANILA, Philippines — A new survey by an environmental group suggested that nine in 10 Filipinos support reducing plastic production to combat plastic pollution, biodiversity loss, and climate change.
The results of the poll were released ahead of the fourth Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee meeting for a Global Plastics Treaty in Ottawa, Canada later this month. “Filipinos are against plastic pollution and want genuine and lasting solutions to the plastic crisis because they know it’s harmful to health and the environment,” said Marian Ledesma, zero waste campaigner of Greenpeace Philippines. Greenpeace said there was a “notable difference” between responses from the countries from the Global North and the Global South.
“Global South countries are less likely to have the infrastructure to deal with plastic waste,21 whether it’s generated within the country or originating from other countries,” the Greenpeace report read. Ledesma called on the Philippine delegation to “show leadership and ambition” at the Global Plastics Treaty Negotiation.
The Philippines has an Extended Producer Responsibility law, which requires large enterprises to recover or offset their plastic packaging footprint. But groups like Greenpeace Philippines criticize the measure for failing to strengthen upstream interventions necessary to mitigate plastic pollution in the country.