A lawmaker at the House of Representatives on Thursday called on local government units to organize a plastic waste drive to help ensure that used face shields are properly disposed of.

Rizal Rep. Fidel Nograles made the call after the government’s decision to lift the mandatory use of face shields in areas under Covid-19 Alert Level 1 to 3.

“We have a mounting waste problem that needs intervention both at the local and national level. Kailangang maging organisado ang disposal ng mga face shield upang hindi na dumagdag pa sa problema (We need to make the disposal of face shields more organized so that we could lessen the waste problem),” Nograles said in a statement.

Citing the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Nograles said about 65 million face shields are being used daily in 21.8 million households nationwide.

Nograles urged the DENR to take a more aggressive approach to the disposal of face shields.

“Hindi sapat ang sabihin na itago lang ang mga ito, o gamitin sa ibang bagay. Dapat mas proactive tayo. (It’s not enough to say that we should just keep it, or use it for other purposes. We should be more proactive.) We have to provide avenues that the public can access—the onus of disposal, reusing, and recycling should not be placed solely on households,” the lawmaker said.

Nograles suggested to LGUs to explore partnerships with firms that specialize in plastic recycling.

“We have local social enterprises like The Plastic Flamingo (Plaf), for example, which transform plastic waste into sustainable construction materials. This is a good point of convergence for the public and private sector,” Nograles said.

The Plaf, a recycling service founded in 2019, aims to collect 500 metric tons of plastic waste by the end of 2021, and 2,000 tons by 2023, through its network of partnerships within and beyond Metro Manila.

At the barangay level, Nograles said LGUs could also organize not only collection drives, but lectures on plastics recycling and reuse.

“Mga parol- o Belen-making activity, o kahit ano pa man na nakatuon sa plastics waste transformation na maaari ring maging livelihood program, maraming malikhaing paraan na maaaring isulong ng mga LGU para hindi masayang ang mga face shield ([They could initiate] a parol or Belen-making activity, or anything that would lead to plastics waste transformation that could also be a livelihood program. There are creative activities that the LGU could start so that the face shields won’t go to waste),” he said. (PNA)