A press release from the City of Dumaguete says it is looking at ways to amend its Anti-Plastics ordinance to allow its full implementation, following observations that many business establishments continue to disregard the law.
The ordinance, which took effect in late August last year, bans vendors from offering or selling plastic bags to be used as secondary packaging material for wet goods or primary packaging for dry goods.
Polystyrene or styrofoam, and other similar materials, are also prohibited as packaging containers, either as primary or secondary.
Persons of any store or business establishment found violating the law will be penalized P500 for the first violation, P1,000 for the second violation, and P5,000 for the third violation.
But as soon as the Ordinance started to take effect, plastic bags started appearing in stores with the word “biodegradable” printed on them. It seemed like a crude attempt at evading the law. Worse, it appears to be an attempt to undermine the efforts of the City to enforce its laws.
Information available on the Internet says there is no such thing as “biodegradable plastic” as these they are still made from petroleum products. Plastic will remain as plastic, despite the possible addition of biodegradable linkages like cellulose or starch.
There are ways to determine if the claims posted on the plastic are true, in the absence of the say-so of an international scientific body (wherever that may be found).
As they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. We, therefore, should not accept these claims at face value but challenge these establishments to prove their claims as to the biodegradability of their plastic.
The second method is to bury those “biodegradable” plastics in the ground, along with plastics which do not make such claim, and dig them up one month, then again two months, and three months later. This should be enough time to see if indeed, these “biodegradable” plastics are on their way back to mother earth.
The third way, which is much simpler, is to go to the dumpsite, and see the kind of plastics which you can find there. You will surely find a lot of plastics with the word “biodegradable” printed on them.
Perhaps, the City may want to include a provision in the Ordinance that plastics which do not dissolve back to the soil within a specified time frame will be considered a violation of the law, and remain subject to the appropriate penalties.
