QC bans single-use plastics, disposables
The use of disposable plates, spoons, forks, cups and other plastic and paper utensils for dining purposes will soon be banned in hotels and restaurants in Quezon City, according to Mayor Joy Belmonte.
In a press conference, Belmonte announced the approval of Ordinance 2876, which prohibits the distribution and/or use of single-use plastics/ disposable materials, including cutlery for dine-in purposes, in all hotels and restaurants in Quezon City.
The said waste prevention and reduction measure was introduced by Councilor Dorothy Delarmente and co-introduced by 35 other councilors, representing all of the city’s six congressional districts.
“The local government of Quezon City is taking this action to prevent and reduce the generation of waste materials that are hardly recovered and recycled, and to promote sustainable practices, especially in the city’s thriving hotel and restaurant industry,” Belmonte said.
The lady mayor expects a significant drop in the volume of residual and plastic wastes in the city once the implementing rules and regulations of this ordinance are duly promulgated.
Delarmente, for her part, emphasized that “the enactment of this measure and its subsequent enforcement is essential amid the clamor against throwaway materials, both plastic and paper-based, which go straight to the bin after being used for just a few minutes.”
“In this ordinance, paper alternatives for paper cups, plates and straws are not considered an option since these are not recyclable, but disposable,” clarified Delarmente, who chairs the City Council’s Committee on Parks and Environment.
Among the single-use and disposable materials not allowed for dine-in customers in the city’s hotels and restaurants are plastic spoons, forks and knives; plastic/paper cups, plates, straws, stirrers; and styrofoam.
Hotels are further prohibited from distributing bar and liquid soaps, shampoos and conditioners, shower gels, and other items used for hygienic purposes in sachets and single-use containers.
Based on Quezon City’s Waste Analysis and Characterization Study conducted in 2013, 0.81 percent of the 9.64 percent of “recyclable plastic waste” generated by the city is comprised of single-use cutlery, including plastic cups, spoons and forks, which is equivalent to 2.6 tons per day or approximately one truckload of a mini-dump truck.