The Philippines, long ranked among the world’s top sources of ocean plastic, is taking bold action to clean up its act—starting with its biggest polluters.

In 2023, the country rolled out Southeast Asia’s first Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) law, requiring large companies to take financial and logistical responsibility for the plastic waste they produce. It’s a significant shift: for the first time, businesses that flood the market with plastic packaging are now being held legally accountable for cleaning it up.

What the Law Does

Under the EPR Act, companies are mandated to recover a portion of the plastic they put into the market—starting at 20% and increasing to 80% by 2028. That includes hard-to-recycle plastics like single-use sachets and flexible packaging.

The law doesn’t ban plastics, but it does offer consequences: firms that fail to comply face fines of up to 20 million pesos (about S$450,000) or even the revocation of their operating licenses.

In its first year, the law helped remove 486,000 tonnes of plastic waste from the environment—surpassing its initial target.

The Rise of Plastic Credits

To meet their obligations, many companies have turned to “producer responsibility organisations” that manage the collection and processing of plastic waste. One popular mechanism is plastic credits—certificates that verify a certain amount of plastic has been removed from the environment and recycled, upcycled, or co-processed (burned for energy and used in cement).

Credits vary in price depending on the material and process—ranging from US$100 for co-processing to over US$500 for recycling ocean-bound PET.

While critics argue that co-processing is not truly circular, it has helped fuel a micro-economy at the grassroots. In Manila, former streetsweeper Marita Blanco now buys and resells collected plastic to organisations like Friends of Hope, earning income from waste that once had no value. “I didn’t know there was money in garbage,” she says.

Corporate Buy-In—and Limitations

Some companies, like snack giant Mondelez, have committed to offsetting 100% of their plastic footprint through credit purchases. But industry players admit that upstream solutions—like redesigning packaging—are far less common.

“There’s no procurement department that will accept a 20% higher packaging cost just because it’s better for the planet,” says PCX Solutions’ managing director.

The system also faces criticism for being “still linear, not circular.” Plastic is still being created, used once, and then destroyed—even if it’s used for energy.

A Promising Start, But Change Takes Time

Despite its limitations, the EPR law marks a milestone in environmental accountability in the region. Experts, including the UN Development Programme, caution that the full impact will take time—and a major cultural shift.

As one official put it: “We will not see immediate impacts right now, or tomorrow. It requires massive behavioural change from everyone.”

The Philippines has taken a brave first step. Now the real test begins—moving from cleaning up to cutting down.