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Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Bill No. 4922

Introduced by Representative RAMON V. A. “RAV” ROCAMORA

EXPLANATORY NOTE

According to the 2015 annual report of the International Coastal Cleanup of
Ocean Conservancy, a total of 18,062,911 pounds of trash was collected from beaches
and waterways around the world. 665,294 pounds of this trash came from the
Philippines alone (a significant increase from 2014 when the volunteers in the
Philippines were able to recover 416,340 pounds of trash). According to the same 2015
report, waste related to beverage containers (bottles and caps) amounted to 60,584
dual pieces that were recovered around the country.

These numbers alone show the need to provide for a mechanism to reduce the
waste that finds its way to our oceans, waters, landfills, and dumpsites. Fortunately, a
vast majarity of beverage containers are made of materials that are easily reusable and
recyclable, especially by the manufacturers themselves. Thus, this bill seeks to mandate
the creation and implementation of management plans for brand owners to recover
their used beverage containers for reuse or recycling, At the same time, consumers are
also required to pay a deposit when purchasing a beverage in order to have them return
the containers; if they are unable to return them, they will be able to recover the
amount of this deposit by surrendering the containers to a return site that will pay the
refund value stated on the containers.

Caring for the environment is especially vital to countries such as ours that feel
the destructive effects of climate change. ‘The Philippines should therefore likewise do
its part to find ways to involve everyone in this effort.

In # the foregoing, passage of this bill is earnestly sought.

-A."RAV" ROCAMORA
Representative
Lone District, Siquijor


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Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

3
House Bill No, AB22_

Introduced by Rep. Ramon V.A, “Rav” Rocamora

AN ACT REQUIRING THE IMPLEMENTATION BY BRAND OWNERS OF

MANAGEMENT PLANS THAT PROVIDE REFUND VALUES FOR CERTAIN BEVERAGE.

CONTAINERS

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled:

SECTION 1. Short Title. This Act shall be known as the “Beverage Container Disposal

Act."

SECTION 2. Definition of Terms. For purposes of this Act, the following terms are
hereby defined:

a.

Beverage ~ alcoholic or non-alcoholic, carbonated or non-carbonated liquid
that is intended for human consumption;

Beverage container - containers primarily made of metal, glass, plastic, or
paper (or a combination of these materials) and has a capacity of not more
than 1 gallon of liquid;

Beverage container agency ~ cither the brand owner or an entity appointed
by the brand owner to act as an agent on behalf of the brand owner;

Brand owner ~ a person that owns the trademark for, manufactures,
distributes, or imports for resale, a beverage sold in a beverage container;

Department - the Department of Environment and Natural Resources;

Management plan ~ the document submitted in accordance with Sections 5
and 6 of this Act;

Recovery rate - the percentage obtained by dividing the number of beverage
containers of a brand owner returned for a refund in a calendar year by the
number of beverage containers of the brand owner for which a deposit was
collected in the calendar year;

Refund value - the value of a beverage container determined in accordance


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with Section 12 of this Act;

i, Return site - an operation, facility, retail store, or an association of
operations, facilities, or retail stores identified in an approved management
plan operating under contract entered into by the return site and a beverage
container agency to collect and redeem empty beverage containers of one or
more brand owners;

j, Seller - a person that sells a beverage in a beverage container and shall
include all members of the supply chain;

k, Unbroken beverage container - includes a beverage container that has been
opened in a manner in which the beverage container was designed to be
opened.

SECTION 3. Responsibilities of the Brand Owner. Each brand owner shall implement
an effective redemption, transportation, processing, marketing, and reporting system
for the reuse and recycling of used beverage containers of the brand owner. Provided,
that no brand owner or beverage container agency shall dispose of any beverage
container labeled in accordance with Section 4 in any landfill or other solid waste
disposal facility.

SECTION 4. Beverage Container Labelling. No brand owner may sell or offer for sale a
beverage in a beverage container unless a statement of the refund value of the beverage
container, as defined by the implementing rules and regulation, is clearly, prominently,
and securely affixed to, printed on, or embossed on the beverage container.

SECTION 5. Submission of Management Plan. Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, or within 60 days after the due incorporation of the beverage
container agency, each heverage container agency shall submit to the Department

a, a management plan, in such form as the Department may prescribe, for the
collection, transport, reuse, and recycling of beverage containers that the
beverage container agency, or that each brand owner, represented by the
beverage container agency, sells into the domestic market; and

b, a fee, in such amount as the Department may establish by regulation, to cover
administrative costs relating to the administration of the management plan.

SECTION 6. Content of Management Plan. The management plan submitted under
Section 5 of this Act shall contain the following information:

a, the name and address of the beverage container agency submitting the
management plan;

b. the name and title of a contact person at the beverage container agency;

¢. the name and corporate address of each brand owner covered by the
management plan;


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d._a proposed implementation date for the management plan; and

€. appropriate documentation of agreements entered into by the beverage
container agency and return site operators as will take effect as of the date of
implementation of the management plan.

The beverage container agency shall also provide in the management plan the
description of the following:

a. ways in which the beverage container agency intends to make the use of
return sites convenient for consumers of beverages covered by the
management plan;

b. ways in which the beverage container agency intends to achieve, not later
than two (2) years after the date of implementation of the management plan,
a recovery rate of at least eighty (80) percent; and

ways in which the beverage container agency will manage beverage
containers returned under the management plan in an environmentally
responsible manner.

Each beverage container agency that submits a management plan under this section
shall promptly notify the Department, in writing, of any change in the information
provided above.

SECTION 7.° Approval of Management Plan. ‘The Department shall approve or
disapprove each management plan submitted under this section not later than sixty
(60) days from such submission. In determining whether to approve or disapprove a
management plan, the Department may return the management plan to the beverage
container agency with a request for additional information or with amendments
proposed by the Department

Ifthe Department disapproves a management plan, the Department shall, not later than
sixty (60) days after the date of disapproval, provide the beverage container agency that
submitted the management plan a written explanation of the reasons for disapproval.

SECTION 8. Implementation of Management Plan, A brand owner that, on or before
the date of enactment of this Act, is selling a beverage in a beverage container, shall

a, not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, have in effect a
management plan that has been approved by the Department; and

b, implement the management plan in accordance with the implementation
date proposed in the management plan.

A brand owner that proposes, after the date of enactment of this Act, to sell a beverage

in a beverage container shall:

a, have, as of the date on which the brand owner commences the selling of the
beverage, a management plan that has been approved by the Department;


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and

b. implement the management plan in accordance with the implementation
date proposed in the management plan.

No brand owner shall sell any beverage in a beverage container until the management
plan has been approved by the Department, Should the Department not act on the
submitted management plan within sixty (60) days from submission, the brand owner
may sell its beverage on or after the implementation date proposed in its management
plan,

SECTION 9. Reporting. Each beverage container agency, the management plan of which
is approved and implemented in accordance with this Act, shall, not later than March 31
of each year after the implementation date of the management plan, submit to the
Department a report that describes the effectiveness of the management plan during the
preceding calendar year.

The report to be submitted by the beverage container agency shall contain the following
information:

a. for each type of beverage container returned, the recovery rate, expressed as
a percentage, audited by an entity independent of the beverage container
agency; and

b. annual financial statements, prepared by an entity independent of the
beverage container agency, of all deposits received and refunds paid by each
brand owner subject to the management plan.

The Department may make available to the public the information described in this
section

SECTION 11, Deposit and Refund, Upon the implementation date of any approved
management plan to which a seller is subject, the seller shall collect from each
purchaser of a beverage in a beverage container, at the time of sale, a deposit in an
amount that is not more than the refund value of the beverage container. Provided, that
no deposit shall be collected if the beverage in a beverage container is sold for
consumption, and is consumed, on the premises of the seller.

Any deposit collected shall be indicated on the receipt of the purchaser, if a receipt is
given for the purchase.

Upon the implementation date of an approved management plan, a beverage container
return site covered by the management plan shall

a, accept unbroken beverage containers for return; and

b. pay to a person returning beverage containers an amount in cash that is
equal to the total of the refund values affixed to, printed on, or embossed on,
each container returned by the person,


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A return site shall not be required to accept or pay a refund for a beverage container
under this section if, as determined by the return site, the beverage container:

a. is contaminated or, for hygienic reasons, is unsuitable for recycling:

b. can be reasonably identified as a container that was purchased outside the
Philippines; or

¢, cannot be reasonably identified as a container to which this Act appli

SECTION 12. Refund Value. Effective January 1, 2019, the refund value of a beverage
container shall be equal to Php 10.00.

The refund value shall be reviewed and amended five (5) years after the date of
enactment of this Act and every five (5) years thereafter. Provided, that such adjustment
shall be based on the changes in the Consumer Price Index published by the Philippine
Statistics Authority. Provided further, that the adjustment shall be rounded-down to the
nearest 50-cent increment.

SECTION 13. Recovery Rates. In the event that a brand owner that complies with each
provision of this Act fails to achieve a recovery rate of at least 80 percent during a
calendar year, the Department may require that the beverage container agency of the
concerned brand owner pay an amount equal to the difference between the amount of
deposits collected on beverage containers of the brand owner that were sold and the
amount of refunds paid on those beverage containers.

SECTION 14. Penalties. A beverage container agency that fails to submit a management
plan within the time prescribed under this Act shall be subject to a fine ranging from
Php 100,000 to Php 10,000,000. A corresponding increase in the amount of the
imposable fine shall be imposed for each day of violation. The Department may, in
proper proceedings and upon compliance with due process of law, suspend or revoke
the appropriate environmental licenses of the concerned beverage container agency.

SECTION 15. Report by the Department, Not later than May 31 of each year, the
Department shall submit to the Congress a report that describes:

a. the recovery rate for beverage containers during the year covered by the
report; and

b, the extent to which beverage container collection is proceeding in
accordance with this Act.

ION 16, Transitory Provision. A special financial support for displaced workers in
the solid waste disposal industry shall be allocated and included in the appropriations
under the of Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) for Fiscal
Year 2019 to finance the training programs of displaced workers.

SECTION 17. Implementing Rules and Regulations, The Department, in consultation
with relevant stakeholders, shall issue within sixty (60) days after the effectivity of this,
Act the rules and regulations for the effective implementation of this Act.

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SECTION 18. Separability Clause. If any provision of this Act or any part thereof shall
be declared unconstitutional or invalid, the other provisions, as far as they are
separable, shall remain in force and effect.

SECTION 19. Repealing Clause. All laws, decrees, orders, rules and regulations or
parts thereof which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed,
amended or modified accordingly.

SECTION 20, Effectivity, This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication
in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) newspapers of general Circulation,

Approved.