General Provisions

Section 2

The State to adopts a systematic comprehensive and ecological solid waste management program which shall:

• Integrate public participation in the development and implementation of national and local comprehensive and ecological waste management programs
• Strengthen the integration of ecological solid waste management and resource conservation and recovery topics into the academic curricula of formal and non-formal education in order to promote environmental awareness and action among the citizenry
• Institutionalize the extended producer responsibility mechanism as a practical approach to efficient waste management, focusing on waste reduction, recovery and recycling, and the development of environment-friendly products that advocate the internationally accepted principles on sustainable consumption and production, circular economy, and producers’ full responsibility throughout the life cycle of their product.

Section 3. Definitions

• Circular economy is an economic model of creating value by extending product lifespan through improved design and servicing, and relocating ways from the end of the supply chain to the beginning. This intends to efficiently utilize resources by its continual use, and aims to retain the highest utility and value of products, components and materials at all times, through sharing, leasing, reuse, repair, refurbishment, and recycling in an almost closed loop
• Extended producer responsibility (EPR) is the environmental pohcy approach and practice that requires producers to be environmentally responsible throughout the life cycle of a product, especially its post-consumer or end-of-hfe stage
• High recyclability is a condition wherein the value for recovery and reprocessing of a product is high, due to its design, composition, content, and density, among other things
• High retrievability is a condition wherein after use of a product, a significant volume of its waste can be recovered, properly recycled, processed or disposed of, on account of its high value for recovery, recycling, or reprocessing;
• Importer shall refer to a natural or juridical person engaged in bringing consumer goods into the Philippines, intended to be sold, whether in original packaging or to be repackaged for distribution to the general public
• Large enterprises shall refer to any business entity whose total assets, inclusive of those arising from loans but exclusive of the land on which the particular business entity’s office, plant and equipment are situated, are exceeding that of medium enterprises stated under RA 9501, otherwise known as the ‘Magna Carta for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises”;
• Obhged enterprises shall refer to product producers that are required to implement an EPR program under this Act
• Plastic shall refer to a synthetic material made from a wide range of organic polymers such as polyethylene terephthalate, high density polyethylene, low density polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, PVC and nylon that can be processed to form sohd objects of various shapes
• Plastic neutrahty shall refer to a system or its desired outcome where, for every amount of plastic product footprint created, an equivalent amount thereof is recovered or removed from the environment by the product producers through an efficient waste management system.
• Plastic packaging shall refer to the polymer material designed to protect a product from environmental factors, or carry goods for transportation, distribution, and sale, including service necessities and more particularly described under Section 44-C
• Product footprint shall refer to a measure of the amount of goods produced, imported, distributed or supplied by a product producer, and deemed to cause damage to the environment;
• Product producer is any of the following persons:
  • brand owner who sells or supplies any commodity under a brand, label or identity using a product it produced, or a material supplied to it by another manufacturer, or supplier; and
  • product manufacturer or importer that supplies its commodities for the use of the general consumer, or distributes the same as a material product of a brand owner: Provided, That for purposes of Article 2 of Chapter III-A, in case the commodities are manufactured, assembled or processed by a product manufacturer for another obhged enterprise which affixes its own brand name, the latter shall be deemed as the manufacturer;
  • Sustainable consumption and production is the use of services and related products that respond to basic needs and bring a better quality of life, while minimizing the use of natural resources and toxic materials, as well as the emission of wastes and pollutants over the life cycle of the service or product, so as not to jeopardize the needs of future generations

Sec. 4. National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC)

This is established under the Office of the President. It has 8 members from the government and 5 members from the private sector.

The government sector shall be represented by the heads of the following agencies in their ex officio capacity:

• DENR
• DILG
• DOST
• DOH
• DTI
• DA
• MMDA
• Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines

The private sector shall be represented by:

• 3 representatives from NGOs with a track record on solid waste management or waste reduction, recychng and resource recovery
• A representative from the recycling, composting, or resource recovery and processing industry
• A representative from the manufacturing industry, packaging industry, or obhged enterprises

The private sector representatives shall be appointed by the President for a term of 3 years.

Section 7. The National Ecology Center

The National Ecology Center NEC under the Commission is established to provide technical expertise, information, training, and networking services for the implementation of this Act.

As part of its oversight function, the NSWMC shall have direct supervision over the NEC which shall:

• Facilitate training and education in integrated ecological solid waste management
• Establish and manage a solid waste management information database, in coordination with the DTI and other concerned agencies:
  • on sohd waste generation and management techniques as well as the management, technical and operational approaches to resource recovery
  • of processors/recyclers, the hst of materials being recycled or bought by them and their respective prices
  • on the rate of recovery of each type of plastic waste, updated semi-annually
• Promote the development of a recycling market through the establishment of a national network that will enhance the opportunity to recycle
• Maintain an EPR Registry that contains the registered EPR programs submitted by obliged enterprises or Producer Responsibihty Organizations (PROs)
• Monitor and evaluate the compliance of obhged enterprises and PROs, with the registration of their EPR programs
• Develop and maintain a database, which includes digital formats, subject to the provisions of Section 44-G, and ensure that it is rehable, effective, secure, transparent, and accessible to the public
• Receive sampling and assessment reports submitted pursuant to second paragraph of Section 44-H and undertake the necessary action on such reports, or complaints from any citizen against a waste generator, an obliged enterprises, PRO, or waste management entity, for the purpose of improving compliance with the law
• Provide or facilitate expert assistance in pilot modehng of sohd waste management facilities
• Develop, test, and disseminate model on waste minimization and reduction auditing procedures for evaluating options
• Within 1 year after the effectivity of the EPR Act of 2022, provide an assessment on the volume or footprint of other generated wastes, for priority inclusion in the EPR scheme.

The NEC shall be headed by the Assistant Director of the Bureau in his/her ex officio capacity. The Assistant Director shall regularly submit reports as may be required by the NSWMC in its monthly meetings. The reports of the NEC shall be consolidated by the NSWMC Secretariat for submission to the NSWMC.

The NEC shall maintain a multi-sectoral, multi-disciplinary pool of experts including those from the academe, inventors, practicing professionals, business and industry, youth, women, and other concerned sectors, who shall be screened according to qualifications set by the Commission.