Philippines major contributor to plastic in oceans

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is among the top contributors of plastic waste in the world’s oceans, according to a report recently released by the United States-based non-profit organization Ocean Conservancy.

In the report focusing on land-based strategies to remove plastic waste in oceans, Ocean Conservancy said the Philippines is among five countries that contribute more than half of the plastic waste that enter the oceans.

The country produces 2.7 million metric tons of plastic waste every year, with half a million metric tons believed to be exiting into the Pacific Ocean.

Other countries cited in the report were China, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. 

Ocean Conservancy said the five countries account for about 55 and 60 percent of the total plastic-waste leakage to oceans, which journal Science estimated to reach eight million metric tons a year.

“These countries have recently benefited from significant increases in gross domestic product, reduced poverty, and improved quality of life,” read the report.

“However, increasing economic power has also generated exploding demand for consumer products that has not yet been met with a commensurate waste-management infrastructure,” it added.

Ocean Conservancy said coordinated action in these five countries could significantly reduce the global leakage of plastic waste into the ocean.

“Specifically, interventions in these five countries could reduce global plastic-waste leakage by approximately 45 percent over the next 10 years. Of course, extending these interventions to other countries could have even more impact on this global issue,” it said.

The organization conducted field visits in the Philippines due to “early evidence of high collection rates and positive momentum toward the commercial treatment options.”

Ocean Conservancy said plastic-waste leakage in the Philippines comes primarily from local plastic consumption, in contrast to China which imports nine million metric tons of plastic a year.

While the Philippines has a high collection rate of plastic, the organization noted that between 70 and 90 percent of the waste dumped illegally in the country ultimately ends up in waterways.

A comparison of open dumps in the country revealed that over half were located within about a kilometer of a waterway, increasing the possibility of waste exiting into the ocean.

The study revealed that 74 percent of plastic leaked into the oceans comes from waste that has already been collected, citing a dump in Dagupan located directly on the coast.

To address leakage of plastic waste, Ocean Conservancy recommended that countries like the Philippines address issues in its collection system.

“There are relatively simple, fast, and inexpensive measures that have been shown to decrease leakage from dumpsites substantially. For instance, creating a perimeter around the dump and its access road (often using old tires, concrete rubble, or even discarded appliances) can help define the size of the dump,” it read.

“This makes it possible to designate an area for waste picking, put in place rules and penalties for the setting of fires (a technique that helps waste pickers uncover new layers of trash), and perform basic shaping and compacting of the waste and periodic covering of the waste layers with soil,” it added.

Ocean Conservancy also recommended gasification, a process that utilizes plastic waste to produce synthesis gas that can potentially be used for electricity generation and the production of chemical fuel.

“In the Philippines, gasification can generate roughly $50 of operating profit per metric ton of treated mixed waste,” read the report.

“Making gasification profitable requires high local-market prices for electricity, government-set feed-in tariffs for electricity, or high tipping fees for traditional waste disposal – conditions that are sometimes but certainly not always present,” it added.