MANILA, PHILIPPINES – The Philippine members of the global movement #BreakFreeFromPlastic (BFFP), joined the Philippine government’s move to push the United Nations to work on a legally binding agreement that will genuinely prevent marine plastic litter and address the impacts of plastic in its full lifecycle from production and design to waste prevention and management.
“We laud our government’s effort to push for a global binding agreement versus marine litter and microplastic. We also hope that other United Nations members will also support this move. The UN already adopted so many resolutions in the past but it is clear that these were insufficient. Plastic pollution is already one of the human-induced crises faced by our planet and it will need a global coordinated response to address it, mainly, by reducing the manufacture of the cause of plastic pollution” said Sonia Mendoza, Chairman of Mother Earth Foundation.
According to BFFP, of the approximately 275 million metric tons of plastic waste produced annually, up to 12 million tons leak into oceans, wreaking havoc on livelihoods and ecosystems. The result is an estimated $13 billion in annual environmental damage to marine ecosystems, in addition to other economic losses and significant health and human concerns.
“Plastic recycling has never been enough. Only 9% of all the plastic produced have been recycled and the plastic crisis will continue to worsen as industries projected more than 30% of global plastic production in the next five years. It’s time to stop relying on recycling alone. What we really need is a binding agreement that will regulate, if not stop, plastic production,” said Aileen Lucero, National Coordinator of Eco Waste Coalition.
The virtual meeting of the UN Ad-hoc Open-ended Expert Group on Marine Litter and Microplastic is currently taking place from November 9-13, 2020. The results of the meeting will be discussed in the upcoming Fifth United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-5), scheduled in February 2021.
About BFFP Philippines Project – The #breakfreefromplastic Philippines project is a collaboration of #breakfreefromplastic members EcoWaste Coalition, GAIA Asia Pacific, Greenpeace Southeast Asia, Health Care Without Harm Southeast Asia and Mother Earth Foundation working towards a future free from plastic pollution.
