Deal on use of ecobags in malls inked

IN VIEW of the effort to reduce the use of non-biodegradable plastic bags, the Cagayan de Oro City Government formally held Monday the signing of the memorandum of agreement (MOA) among five major malls in the city on the common use of environment-friendly grocery bags.

The MOA signing was done after the flag raising ceremony of City Hall employees. It is in pursuance of the proposed ordinance regulating the distribution of single-use plastic carryout bags and requiring retail establishments to collect a pass-through charge from customers requesting these plastic bags.

City Councilor President Elipe, committee chair on environment and natural resources, said during the MOA signing between SM, Robinsons, Save More, Ororama, Gaisano malls and Limketkai mall, it was emphasized that the carryout bag or the eco bag project is in line with the intention of the city to reduce pollution by regulating the use of plastic bags.

Elipe said with the willingness of the malls to participate in the city’s creative environmental conservation project as a means to create a pollution-free atmosphere to the community, they will not only be able to pursue their advocacy in helping mother nature but can also help some victims of Typhoon Sendong to earn extra income as they are tasked to sew the eco- friendly bags.

Elipe said the respective malls have provided a depository fund of P50,000 for the purpose of setting aside a portion of the selling prices, which shall form part of the working capital for the prospective production of eco bags with an initial 10,000 pieces.

He said one of the principles in the implementation of the eco-bag project is to help the Sendong victims in their struggle to overcome the calamity and its effect to society in general in which the malls will charge P35 per bag.

Elipe expressed optimism that through this project, Cagayan de Oro will have a paradigm shift by not using cellophane in their groceries.

“However, as of this time, we cannot force the costumers to stop the use of cellophanes but we required the department stores to charge them with P1 per cellophane,” Elipe said.

“We start with the five malls, and eventually we will also gain the support of other retail stores in the city,” he added.