You’re so plastic, it is not fantastic

Plastic, yes the toxic substance, not your so-called "friend" when you're not around. Plastic has been a big problem now even though it has helped with some things, like storage and cheap production materials for businesses.

We have been in a long love-hate relationship with plastic — either it is beneficial or is very degrading to the environment, not to mention being the cause of clogged drains bringing floods and the death of animals accidentally ingesting it.

Did you know that the World Bank has released data showing that the Philippines uses 163 million pieces of plastic sachets per day? That means 2.3 million tons of plastic waste generated by the country annually.

According to the National Research Council of the Philippines, only 28 percent of key plastic resins are being recycled while the rest are simply discarded. So, where does the remaining 72 percent of the plastic go?

This is the part where I say your guess is as good as mine... just look inside your homes, or maybe in your food, there is a staggering amount of micro-plastics in everything that we consume. Hence, there is a call to increase awareness of the micro-plastics surrounding us that could lead to environmental disasters, contamination among marine species and even in human life.

Well, plastic is still actually a foreign object if it came into contact with the human body or in case of ingestion — these small particles do not break down and these are not absorbed by the body nor do they metabolize. This can result in detrimental effects as these undesirable chemicals might be poisonous. But you know what? It is already in our hair, in our skin, and even in the air that we breathe, and that's the sad reality.

The use of paper straws, bamboo alternative products, and other environment friendly alternatives to plastic can reduce the amount of its consumption, but there should be more of a long term concrete solution to this big plastic problem that we have.

Last year, the "Extended Producer Responsibility" was being pushed onto the legislation table. This aims to reduce plastic pollution and mandates the big companies and producers to switch to more environmentally friendly packaging. Hopefully this will cut the plastic waste in production by at least half.

Just imagine this. Opening your delivery package with tons of plastic for the packaging and the plastic will be thrown into a landfill where it will take decades to decompose. According to the 2019 Center for International Environmental Law report, by the year 2030 the plastic industry will be releasing up to 1.34-billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions, or to give you a picture, that is as big as the entire continent of Africa, if we do not act today. Every moment counts.

In the Philippines, most of the plastic waste goes to the oceans and the waterways.

The Philippines is one of the world’s top 5 contributors of ocean plastic per the Ocean Conservancy and McKinsey 2015 report with at least 2.7-million metric tons of plastic waste generated every year, with 20 percent leaked into the ocean.

This prompted the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) to launch cleanup projects in support of the war against plastic.

Did you know the PPA has been collecting plastic waste from the ocean since 2016 with more or less 100,000 kilograms of waste collected every year?

That’s why Port Community Cleanup and International Cleanup are being observed strictly in the ports. In fact, the ports of Batangas, Cagayan de Oro, Manila South Harbor, GenSan and Surigao are among those recognized and awarded by the Green Ports Award System of the APEC Port Services Network due to their best environmental practices.

The PPA remains committed to combating climate change through various initiatives, including tree-planting aligned with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s directive to integrate reforestation into disaster mitigation projects.

From 2020 to August 2024, the PPA, through the initiative of general manager Jay Santiago, has planted 12,297,938 trees as certified by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. The PPA is in partnership with various Community Environment and Natural Resources Offices, planting 3,000 mangroves and seedlings in Misamis Oriental, Misamis Occidental, Zamboanga, Agusan, Bicol and Negros Oriental.

Plastic pollution in the ocean is real and it is affecting each of us in ways we cannot imagine. Although we cannot stop it right away, we can work together to mitigate further damage from the waste in our water system.

Before I end, let me just say that this year's tropical storms “Kristine” and “Leon” really affected the passengers traveling via seaports between 28 October and 4 November. A total of 1,076,171 passengers passed through various ports across the country, compared to 1,544,313 recorded in the same period last year.

Several factors may have contributed to this decrease. For one, the longer holiday weekend in 2023 likely led to the increased number of travelers compared to this year. Additionally, the aftermath of typhoon “Kristine” may have caused some seaport passengers to delay or reschedule their trips.

Trips and scheduled plans of people are affected every time nature releases its wrath due to the activities we all are guilty of. Plastic waste does contribute a lot to it through the non-biodegrable chemicals in our natural ecosystem, killing marine life, infiltrating our drinking water, and making the sea waters mad during typhoon season.

Other than awareness campaigns, there should be proper implementation and enforcement of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act to prioritize segregation of plastic waste to avoid it ending up in the landfills and in the oceans.

I hope we all act now before it is too late. Green projects will help avoid environmental degradation during typhoon season. Small ways like not using plastic and bringing your own containers will surely help the bigger picture.

Let us not wait until we see micro-plastics inside our stomachs and until the oceans are filled with our own mismanaged plastic waste. By then there will not be enough water for boats to sail on and for us to live by.

Remember, we are in the same boat. Whatever you throw into the sea will surely come back to you.