By Apple Jean C. Martin
MANILA,
June 17 - - - Plastic is out, paper is
in. And to the mounting need for paper bags as the best environmental-friendly
option, the country’s science agency is looking into more ways to make paper
packaging more accessible to all and even provide additional income
opportunities to people.
"The
greater use of paper packaging is in line with our current initiatives that
protect the environment and uplift the ecosystem," said Science Secretary
Mario Montejo. "One of the thrusts of the Department of Science and
Technology is the support to green technologies, products, and services."
In
Metro Manila and nearby areas, more and more local governments are slowly easing
out plastic in their own backyards, compelling stores and vendors to use paper
bags in wrapping their wares. The back to paper drive is considered as one good
way of avoiding the build up of plastic garbage that clogs up the waterways and
contributes to flooding. Plastics likewise are harmful to the environment
because of their chemical content and very long degradation process, in
addition to making the environment look bad.
“People
have become more aware of the environmental risks posed by the continued use of
plastics after the onslaught of typhoon Ondoy,” said Aimee Beatrix Habon,
Science Research Specialist at DOST’s Forest Products Research and Development
Institute-Technology Innovation Division.
“Increased
demand for pulp and paper means more challenges for the industry and for
DOST-FPRDI as well,” Habon added.
FPRDI
has completed an on-going research studies on alternative raw materials such as
low grade abaca fibers, banana fibers, and palm oils’ empty fruit bunch fibers for
packaging paper, according to Adela Torres, Chief of FPRDI’s Pulp and Paper
Products Development Section.
FPRDI
is also working out a collaboration with UP Los Banos’ Institute of Plant
Breeding in studying hybrid abaca as reinforcement fiber. Currently, FPRDI is
part of the Department of Trade and Industry-Bureau of Product Standards’
Technical Committee on Board, Paper, and Pulp which develops standards for
packaging paper.
FPRDI
was likewise part of the initial stages when the “No to Plastic” campaign in
Los Baños, Laguna was conceptualized. Los Baños was one of the first towns in
the country to regulate the use of plastic bags for packaging. (DOST/PIA9/alt)
