155 firms ordered to explain failure to recover, recycle plastics

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has issued show-cause letters to 155 companies for allegedly failing to meet their obligations under Republic Act No. 11898, or the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) law, according to Malacañang.

Palace press officer Claire Castro said on Thursday the DENR was closely monitoring companies covered by the law amid concerns over plastic waste clogging waterways and pumping stations during the recent heavy rains that flooded different parts of the country, especially Metro Manila.

“The DENR is actively monitoring the compliance of companies with the EPR law through audits of their recovery rates,” Castro said at a Palace briefing.

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According to her, the DENR issued 155 show-cause letters to potential “obliged enterprises” that failed to meet their EPR requirements.

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Malacañang, however, did not identify any of these potential violators.

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Stiff penalties

Companies that failed to comply with EPR requirements shall be fined P5 million to P10 million for the first offense and P10 million to P15 million for the second offense.

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Third-time offenders face a fine of P15 million to P20 million on top of the automatic suspension of their business permit until they are able to comply with the EPR requirements.

Castro said that companies had generally exceeded the targets based on audited recovery rates.

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In 2024, the recovery rate reached 59.98 percent for rigid plastics and 56.33 percent for flexible plastics, she noted. Both figures were above the 40 percent legal target for that year.

Still, Castro said the companies’ compliance should be monitored more closely.

The EPR law, which took effect in 2022, is intended to shift some of the responsibility for plastic waste management to producers.

It requires companies to account for the plastic packaging they put into circulation and ensure that a portion is recovered and recycled.

Under RA 11898, companies covered by the EPR requirement must progressively increase their recovery of plastic packaging waste.

The recovery target was set at 20 percent in 2023. It was raised to 40 percent in 2024, 50 percent in 2025, and 60 percent in 2026. It will go up to 70 percent in 2027 and 80 percent in 2028 and every year thereafter.

President Marcos previously described the garbage situation in Metro Manila as “critical” as truckloads of waste were collected from waterways following the recent heavy rains.

He said the clogged waterways disrupted the operations of pumping stations and consequently worsened flooding.

Castro, meanwhile, said the government could not address the problem of improper garbage disposal by itself.

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“There really needs to be greater responsibility and enforcement, not just from the government but from all of us,” she added.