THIRTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
First Regular Session 
SENATE 
S. No. 
714 
INTRODUCED BY HON. MANUEL B. VILLAR, JR. 
EXPLANATORYNOTE 
Many consumer products today are packaged in the so-called "disposable" form. 
Because of the fast pace of modern living, consumers have been conditioned to equate 
convenience with simply throwing away the refuse of most commodities that they 
consume. 
To tap this harried consumer market, manufacturers have shifted to packaging 
products using lightweight materials. Fastfood businesses and such things as aerosol 
sprays, atomizers and a range of other applications in the cosmetic and 
pharmaceutical product trade have likewise shifted to using new materials for 
packaging . 
Leading researchers have now established that what these products save us in terms 
of time, they exact from us in terms of environmental damage. 
Styrofoam, the most common synthetic material in popular use by fastfood chains and 
product packagers, is not as benign as we have long thought it to be. Left undisposed, 
it continually releases chlorofluorocarbons, more commonly refers to as CFCs into the 
atmosphere. Choloflourocarbons are the same elements found in aerosol propellants 
and freon refrigerants, that have been conclusively linked to the thinning of the ozone 
layer in the earth's atmosphere. 
This ozone layer is what protects all earthly life from the harmful effects of ultraviolet 
radiation. Unlike plain oxygen which plants can manufacture for use, ozone is a finite 
non-replenishable global resource. Ozone lost to natural chemical reaction with loose 
CFCs in the atmosphere is ozone lost forever. 
We can do something about Styrofoam. This bill discourages its further use and 
encourages a search for truly safer alternatives. Beyond this, there is a need to enjoin 
the manufacturers to support the aim of this bill. When it is made clear that it is not 
the aim of this bill to cut into their profit margin but rather to increase it through 
endorsements to the consumer, in exchange for conformity with an environmental 
crusade. 
I 
Hence, approval of this bill is urged. 
MANU 


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8 
SENATE 
THIRTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
First Regular Session 
INTRODUCED BY HON. MANUEL B. VILLAR, JR. 
AN ACT DECLARING AS UNLAWFUL THE USE OF POLYCARBON PLASTICS, 
STYROFOAM AND OTHER SYNTHETIC MATERIALS HARMFUL TO THE 
ENVIRONMENT AND ESTABLISHING A CRITERION FOR THE ENDORSEMENT OF 
ENVIRONMENT FRIENDLY CONSUMER PRODUCTS 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in Congress assembled: 
SECTION 1. Title of the Act. - This Act shall be known as the "Environment Friendly 
Act." 
SEC. 2. Definition of Terms. - For purposes of this Act, the following shall mean: 
1. Chlorofluorocarbons or CFC's - shall mean any product or product ingredient 
having the chemical structure and/or characteristics of chlorofluorocarbons which 
under natural conditions, can bond with free oxygen molecules in the atmosphere and 
thereby deplete the same such as, but not limited to, Styrofoam, aerosol propellants, 
freon and other refrigerants. 
2. Polycarbon Plastics and Plastics - shall mean any plastic product or other 
synthetic material made from petroleum-based ingredients including, but not limited 
to, polyethylene, polythene, vinyl, polyvinyl, phenolic vinyl, urethane, polyurethane, 
Styrofoam and similar materials and their extracts. 
3. Green Products - shall refer to products and/or product ingredients whose 
component substances do not pose any polluting-or other ecologically harmful effects 
both during their use and in, their subsequent disposal. 
4. Biodegradable - shall mean the ability to decompose into harmless organic 
components through time by the action of bacteria, microorganisms and other living 
natural agents of decay. 
SEC. 3. Declaration of Policy. - It is the policy of the State to minimize the use of 
ecologically harmful synthetic materials as, components, ingredients or packaging of 
consumer products. 
It is the policy of the State to encourage the use of alternative materials to 
polycarbon plastics for packaging consumer products. These alternative materials 
shall be biodegradable and shall pose no danger to the environment both during their 
use and upon their disposal. 
SEC. 4.Unlawful use of Non-Biodegradable Plastics. Except in cases herein 
enumerated, it shall be unlawful o utilize non-biodegradable polycarbon plastics as 
container orb packaging for any consumer product for sale in the Philippines. 
SEC. 5. Exemptions. - The following exceptions to Section 4 above are hereby granted: 


1. The use of clear plastic in minimal amount for packaging where it essential and 
absolutely unavoidable to show part of the product through a transparent window for 
purposes of 1 product identification by the consumer. 
2. The use of plastic in minimal amount to contain pharmaceuticals and medical 
drugs where it essential and absolutely unavoidable to preserve the chemical potency 
of said pharmaceuticals or drugs and where no suitable alternative is possible. 
3. The use of plastic or Styrofoam in minimal amount to hold or contain electronic 
products and/or their components where it essential and absolutely unavoidable to 
insulate said products from harmful static electricity, shock and other natural risks 
and where no suitable alternative is possible. 
SEC. 6, Unlawful Release of CFCs. - No consumer product sold in the Philippines may 
contain cholorofluorocarbons (CFC's) where the use and/ or disposal of such product 
results in the release of CFC's into the atmosphere. 
SEC. 7. Product Testing. - The Bureau of Product Standards of the Department of 
Trade and Industry (DTI) and the research bureau of the Department of Science and 
Technology (DOST) is hereby authorized to conduct continuing tests on all consumer 
product sold in the Philippines to determine whether these products contain any 
ingredients harmful to the environment. 
For this purpose, the Bureau of 
Products Standards using scientific 
measurements and empirical testing procedures, shall draw up a set of criteria which 
will serve as a standard for evaluating the compliance of manufacturers of consumer 
goods within the purposes of this Act. 
SEC. 8. Certification Logo. - The Bureau of Product Standards is hereby authorized to 
commission the preparation of a logo with appropriate signage and graphics to 
indicate that the product to which said logo is &fixed contains no components 
harmful to the environment or ingredients that may cause instant or cumulative 
damage on the ecology. 
This logo shall, invariably, utilize the phrase "certified green product" and 
shall include as one element the official seal of agency. 
SEC. 9. Qualification of Manufacturers. - Manufacturers of consumer products that 
meet the criteria for environmental safety as defined by the Bureau of Product 
Standards under Section 7, and all other subsequent regulations issued by the 
government from time to time, shall be allowed to use the logo in designing their 
product label: Provided, however, that any manufacturer so qualified shall include this 
logo as a prominent element of the label's design occupying a printed space no smaller 
than one square centimeter nor bigger than one square inch. 
SEC. 10. Penal Provision. - Any manufacturer who affixes the logo design, or any 
unauthorized variation of this design, to the label of any consumer product that has 
not met the criteria under Section 7 of this Act shall be penalized by no less than Fifty 
Thousand Pesos (P50,OOO.OO): Provided, that in addition to such penalty the 
product concerned shall be withdrawn from sale through out the Philippines 
SEC. 11. Separability Clause. - if any section or provision of this Act is held or 
declared unconstitutional or invalid by a competent court in a final judgment, the 
other sections or provisions hereof shall continue to be in full force and effect. 
SEC. 12. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, orders, instructions and rules and 
regulations or parts thereof which are inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed or 
modified accordingly. 
SEC. 13. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect upon its approval. 
Approved,