Roadmap Workshop 3: Prioritization and Shortlisting of Solutions in the Packaging Sector

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The Philippine Center for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development, INC. (PCEPSDI), through its Sustainable Packaging Towards Marine Litter Reduction Project, held a Training Webinar entitled “Development of a Private Sector Roadmap for Sustainable Packaging Workshop 3: “Prioritization and Shortlisting of Solutions in the Packaging Sector” on October 29, 2021. The webinar aims to aid the development and serve a strategic document that will guide stakeholders to make the packaging value chain more sustainable. In order to gather such data, a first workshop was conducted last August 4, 2021 with stakeholders to map out and verify social and environmental impacts of the packaging value chain, and identify the challenges and barriers to address these impacts. A second workshop was conducted last September 15, 2021 to identify and prioritize environmental hotspots and create an initial long list of solutions that can address these hotspots. These solutions will be prioritized and shortlisted during a third workshop according to certain factors such as cost, time to implement, need for other stakeholders, among other indicators. The summary of the first and second workshop was presented by PCEPSDI, Project Assistant, Ms. Andera Go, she shared first the Sustainable Packaging Towards Marine Litter Reduction Project’s three main objectives, and presented the recap of the first and second workshop. Mr. Kiko Velhagen, Project Consultant heading the development of the Private Sector Roadmap, presented the longlist of solutions as a result of the second workshop. A total of 15 solutions were listed and discussed under four main private sector solution themes, The webinar is then proceeded intro breakout sessions in where the participants exchanged solutions, and information in their respective sectors. PCEPSDI Project Officer, Ms. Nicole Gomez, concluded the workshop and provided a summarized report of all the break out session rooms. All information gathered from the three workshops are valuable inputs to the development of a Private Sector Roadmap, and as the study is nearing the end, Ms. Gomez thanked everyone who took time and shared their experiences, expertise, and insights for this study. The contents of this post are the sole responsibility of GCP and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union, the BMZ, GIZ or Expertise France.

Green Choice for Green Products: An Awareness Seminar on the National Ecolabelling Programme – Green Choice Philippines

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The “Development of Voluntary Guidelines on Sustainable Packaging Towards Reduction of Marine Litter and Promoting Packaging from Alternative Materials Through Market Based Approach” project implemented by the Philippine Center for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development, Inc. (PCEPSDI), also dubbed as the “Sustainable Packaging toward Marine Litter Reduction” aims to reduce marine litter by promoting packaging for reuse and from alternative materials using market-based instruments. This project is in partnership with the ‘Rethinking Plastics – Circular Economy Solutions to Marine Litter’ project of the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). ‘Rethinking Plastics‘ is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and Expertise France. Due to the growing global concern for environmental protection, market demand for “green” products shows significant increase as producers, retailers, governments and consumers seek to expand their sustainable production and green purchasing. However, along with the increased awareness and rising demand on environmentally friendly products is the increasing concern on “greenwashing”. Thus, PCEPSDI administers the National Ecolabelling Programme – Green Choice Philippines (NELP-GCP), a voluntary, Type 1 ecolabelling program following the guidelines of ISO 14024. NELP-GCP provides criteria for environmentally sound and preferable products and services through life cycle consideration. Its mission is to guide the Filipino society in choosing which products and services being produced and distributed in the country pose the minimum risks to environmental health and welfare; while envisioning that environmentally preferable products are being produced and distributed all throughout the country. This seminar is an opportunity for businesses and other stakeholders to understand ecolabelling, a viable solution for promoting sustainable choices. As a company, SM seeks to make sustainable choices accessible to every Filipino, but this is a big challenge. Because of this, SM reaches out to many partners, one of which is PCEPSDI, to further advance sustainability. SM partners with PCEPSDI and the NELP-GCP, through its hotels, malls, and retail segments, to step up its sustainability initiatives, and helps out its suppliers in the journey towards becoming green. The seminar was started by a welcome message from Ms. Marimar “Mai” Baitculon, AVP of the SM group Sustainability office from SM Investments Corporation. Followed by the introduction of DTI’s programs on sustainable consumption and production (SCP), and its other initiatives for consumer protection by Atty. Ann Cabochan. The recently accomplished toolkit is a DTI-led project proponent in cooperation with ACCP ASEAN Secretariat, funded under the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF) 2.0 and managed by the Competition, Consumer Protection and Intellectual Property Rights Division (CCPID) of the ASEAN Secretariat together with DTI. Atty. Ann Cabochan emphasizes the promotion of its consumer advocacy on Sustainable Consumption and Production together with the Philippine Center for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development INC. through its flagship programme which is the National Ecolabelling Programme – Green Choice Philippines by picking products and services that are certified green. To provide the fundamentals of ecolabelling in the Philippines, Ms. Grace Lebria presented the different types of environmental performance labelling, NELP-GCP main activities, and its milestones. Ms. Lebria also mentioned that the ISO 14020 series was developed to avoid misleading labels. There are three types of labels, namely: (1) Type I which establishes criteria based on the product/service lifecycle, applied for third-party verification; (2) Type II for self-declared environmental claims; (3) Type III for specific aspects of products using a life-cycle approach which defines a reporting format for quantifiable life cycle data. To provide the fundamentals of ecolabelling in the Philippines, Ms. Grace Lebria presented the different types of environmental performance labelling, NELP-GCP main activities, and its milestones. Ms. Lebria also mentioned that the ISO 14020 series was developed to avoid misleading labels. There are three types of labels, namely: (1) Type I which establishes criteria based on the product/service lifecycle, applied for third-party verification; (2) Type II for self-declared environmental claims; (3) Type III for specific aspects of products using a life-cycle approach which defines a reporting format for quantifiable life cycle data. The seminar was then ended by testimonials by NELP-GCP certified products.

Enhancing Solid Waste Management and Advancing Sustainable Packaging

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The Philippine Center for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development, INC (PCEPSDI), through its Sustainable Packaging Towards Marine Litter Reduction Project, held an Online Policy Dialogue entitled: “Enhancing Solid Waste Management and Advancing Sustainable Packaging” on October 26, 2021. The event aims to present the results of the roundtable discussion in Iloilo City and Bacolod City, to deliver challenges, opportunities, and areas of improvement on solid waste management & promotion of sustainable packaging, and to provide an avenue on open discussion in solid waste management and sustainable packaging.  The first speaker for the webinar was Philippine Center for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development Inc. (PCEPSDI) Project Consultant, Dr. Maria Angela Zafra, who talked about Market Supply and Demand for sustainable packaging where she presented the market readiness study. She discussed that sustainable packaging should be effective, efficient, cyclic, and safe. Biodegradable Reusable and Compostable Packaging, which are alternative packaging to single-use plastics, are also introduced. The Project Assistant of Philippine Center or Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development Inc. (PCEPSDI), Ms. Kim Castillo, presented the results of the roundtable discussion in Bacolod City and Iloilo City. The 10-year Solid Waste Management Plans of the two municipalities, as well as the challenges and recommendations in the resource regeneration & protection, improvement of solid waste management, promotion of alternative packaging products, and public awareness on solid waste management was presented. There would be a Policy Recommendation Guidelines that contains the results of the research and policy dialogue between the two municipalities, which will be endorsed to the LGUs to provide policy recommendations on Solid Waste Management and Sustainable Packaging with key aspects on SCP. The Policy Dialogue proper was moderated by Prof. Edmond “Macky” Maceda, the Sustainability Director for Enderun Colleges, and Sustainable officer for the United Nations. He introduced the panelist: Mr. Bert Guevarra of Green Solutions 128, Ms. Nikki Sevilla of EcoNest, Mr. Marian Ledesma of Greenpeace Philippines, and Dr. Sonny Domingo of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies. The policy dialogue consisted of presentations from the panelists, such as the 5-point philosophy and 4-level waste diversion scheme to solid waste disposal and recovery, design & manufacturing to alternative packaging, and the areas of improvement for policy makers in setting the right regulation to solid waste management. Best practices of LGUs like increasing the number of Materials Recovery Facilities, enactment and regulation of single-use plastic ordinances, partnership of LGUs to manufacturers of Eco bricks, and the National Ecology Center was also commended.