The Mindanao Examiner Regional Newspaper
Yay to Shop-o-rama! Nay to KCC Mall, Yubenco Mall
ZAMBOANGA CITY – One of Zamboanga’s oldest supermarkets, Shop-o-rama, has finally started using paper bags boosting the local government ban on single use plastic bags during Saturdays and Sundays.
The supermarket was one of the top violators of the campaign, but since last month Shop-o-rama has switched to paper bags and this was also confirmed by their baggers and cashiers. “Yes, we are now using paper bags during weekends,” one bagger told The Mindanao Examiner Regional Newspaper.
But Zamboanga’s biggest shopping centers, KCC Mall de Zamboanga and Yubenco Star Mall continue to violate the ban.
Reynaldo Gonzales, the chief of the Office of the City Environment and Natural Resources (OCENR), has repeatedly told establishments to follow the order. Gonzales was referring to the implementation of Executive Order BC453-2019 signed by then Mayor Beng Climaco.
Climaco signed the order in February 2019 banning the use of non-biodegradable plastic bags during weekends as part of the local government’s ecological solid waste management program.
The order enjoins all business establishments, markets and residents not to use plastic bags and Climaco urged shoppers and market goers here to use paper or buri bags instead of non-biodegradable plastics, and for establishments, especially shopping malls and supermarkets, to make use of eco bags for their customers.
Most plastic bags are considered as non-biodegradable being made of polymer substance known as polyethylene that cannot easily be decomposed by microorganisms and shall remain as environmental pollutant, thus posing health risk. Data on waste characterization showed that non-biodegradable waste accounts for 40% of the total garbage disposed of and 17% of this constitutes plastics.
The executive order is complementary to the existing broad-based and comprehensive approach policy on solid waste management.
The local government also imposed a ban on the single-use plastics on both Great and Little Santa Cruz Islands to combat pollution and protect the environment. Those going to the islands were told to bring their own reusable containers, baskets or ecobags for their provisions, and prohibited the bringing of plastic bags, cups and spoons, forks, water bottles and anything made from Styrofoam and even plastic wrappers of ice candies, among others.
According to plasticfreechallenge.org, single-use plastics or disposable plastics such as grocery bags, straws, coffee stirrers, soda and water bottles and most food packaging are used only once before they are thrown away or recycled.
It said only 10-13% of 300 million tons of plastic are recycled each year because the nature of petroleum based disposable plastic makes it difficult to recycle and they have to add new virgin materials and chemicals to it to do so. Additionally there are a limited number of items that recycled plastic can be used.
“Petroleum based plastic is not biodegradable and usually goes into a landfill where it is buried or it gets into the water and finds its way into the ocean. Although plastic will not biodegrade (decompose into natural substances like soil,) it will degrade (break down) into tiny particles after many years. In the process of breaking down, it releases toxic chemicals (additives that were used to shape and harden the plastic) which make their way into our food and water supply,” it said.
“These toxic chemicals are now being found in our bloodstream and the latest research has found them to disrupt the Endocrine system which can cause cancer, infertility, birth defects, impaired immunity and many other ailments,” it added. (Mindanao Examiner)