LocationsPhilippines advances plastic waste reduction, prevention, and circularity
July 9, 2026
Manila, Philippines – As the Philippines strengthens its implementation of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Act, efforts are increasingly shifting beyond waste recovery toward preventing plastic packaging waste before it is generated. The next step is ensuring that these upstream interventions can be effectively measured, recognized, and supported.
The EPR Act aims to strengthen producer responsibility for plastic packaging waste and promote more sustainable production and consumption systems. This includes requiring Obliged Enterprises (OEs)—product producers and brand owners—to establish and implement their EPR programs for their plastic packaging. But beyond product waste recovery programs, the law also recognizes upstream interventions that reduce waste generation at source and improve circularity. These include reuse and refill systems, redesign, recycled content, and other measures that may contribute to plastic waste footprint reduction, resource efficiency, and circular economy outcomes by keeping materials in productive use for longer.
These approaches are increasingly shaping the next phase of plastic action globally. Internationally, governments and businesses are placing greater emphasis on reducing unnecessary plastic use, scaling reuse and refill systems, redesigning products and packaging, and increasing recycled content as part of broader efforts to transition to a circular economy. These shifts complement waste recovery by preventing plastic packaging waste before it is generated and keeping materials in productive use for longer.
The Philippines is beginning to see similar developments. Across industries, an increasing number of OEs are already investing in upstream interventions, including reuse and refill systems, packaging redesign, material reduction, and recycled content initiatives. Discussions with industry highlighted that these approaches are moving beyond pilot initiatives and are becoming an increasingly important component of corporate sustainability and EPR implementation strategies. At the same time, stakeholders recognized that developing credible methodologies to measure, verify, and recognize their contributions under the EPR Act will be critical to supporting wider adoption.
To support this phase of EPR implementation, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources – Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB), with support from the National Plastic Action Partnership (NPAP) Philippines and Plastic Reboot, is working to capture practical experiences and technical inputs that will help shape future guidance on EPR upstream interventions.
“The EPR Act and its Implementing Rules and Regulations provide the basis for developing the standards, rules, and guidelines necessary to make EPR implementation more effective, efficient, and sustainable. We now have an opportunity, and responsibility, to collectively shape how upstream interventions can be recognized while maintaining environmental integrity, preventing double counting, ensuring transparency, and preserving the credibility of the EPR system.”
For NPAP Philippines, Plastic Reboot, and its partners, this work represents an important step toward creating the enabling environment needed to scale upstream solutions, accelerate systems transformation, and ensure that investments in plastic action and circularity can support broader sustainable development outcomes.
“The EPR Act gives the Philippines a powerful opportunity to move beyond waste recovery and prevent plastic pollution before it starts. Upstream solutions, such as reuse, refill, better design, and recycled content, are central to this shift. Through NPAP Philippines, UNDP is working with government, business, civil society, academia, and development partners to build the policies, partnerships, and practical tools needed to scale these solutions and turn circular economy principles into action,” underscored Christophe Bahuet, UNDP Resident Representative in the Philippines.
Insights from these efforts will help inform DENR’s ongoing work to strengthen implementation of the EPR Act and develop future guidance that supports plastic waste reduction, prevention, and circularity through upstream interventions. [E]
About NPAP Philippines
NPAP Philippines is a locally driven, multi-stakeholder platform uniting leaders from government, business, development organizations, academia, civil society and vulnerable groups to tackle plastic pollution and accelerate the country’s transition to a circular economy. Led by the DENR, it is supported by the World Economic Forum’s Global Plastic Action Partnership and partners like the UK Government, the Government of Canada, and The Coca-Cola Foundation. UNDP serves as NPAP’s technical secretariat in the Philippines.
About Plastic Reboot
Plastic Reboot is supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), co-led by the UN Environment Programme and WWF, and implemented in partnership with UNDP and UNIDO. In the Philippines, the program is implemented by UNIDO and executed by the DENR, in partnership with PCX Solutions.