THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on Monday admitted that the Philippines is not winning the war against single-use plastics.

“The single-use plastics issue is not a single dimension issue, it can have a social issue attachment and if we cannot address the social issue we will not be able to address the use of single-use plastics,” DENR Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga said during the celebration of World Environment Day on Monday.

She cited certain sectors whose only option is to utilize single-use plastics.

“So there’s a very huge social dimension that needs to be addressed,” she said. “If we cannot replace single-use plastics we will not be able to actually address this problem.”

Citing the United Nations report, the DENR said that over 400 million tons of plastic is produced worldwide every year, one third of which is used just once. Every day, the equivalent of over 2,000 garbage trucks full of plastic is dumped in oceans, rivers and lakes.

DENR Undersecretary Jonas Leones said that the country generates 61,000 metric tons of solid waste daily of which 12 percent or 7,090 MT are plastics.

In January this year, Loyzaga signed the implementing rules and regulations of Republic Act 11898, or the “Extended Producer Responsibility Act of 2022.” The law aims to address the mismanagement of plastic waste and maximize the material value of plastics.