{"id":1284,"date":"2006-08-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2006-08-15T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/master.k8s.p4.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/press\/1284\/waste-survey-exposes-extent-of-plastic-pollution-in-manila-bay-2\/"},"modified":"2019-11-06T17:05:20","modified_gmt":"2019-11-06T09:05:20","slug":"waste-survey-exposes-extent-of-plastic-pollution-in-manila-bay-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/press\/1284\/waste-survey-exposes-extent-of-plastic-pollution-in-manila-bay-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Waste survey exposes extent of plastic pollution in Manila Bay"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\tFollowing the arrival of the Greenpeace ship M.Y. Esperanza in Manila as part of the group’s global expedition to defend the oceans, the ship\u2019s crew and volunteers from Greenpeace and the Eco-Waste Coalition this morning collected approximately four cubic meters of plastic trash from Manila Bay onboard inflatable boats, as part of a waste survey and documentation to monitor the extent of plastic pollution in Manila\u2019s famous coastline. Manila Bay is considered one of the most polluted bays in Asia, and plastics comprise most of the floating litter on its surface.\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

“Manila Bay has become a huge floating dump for the whole of
\nMetro Manila and the other coastal provinces from the Bataan
\npeninsula down to Cavite,” said Greenpeace Southeast Asia
\ncampaigner Beau Baconguis. “The immense volume of assorted plastic
\ngarbage littering its coasts and floating in its currents is
\nsymbolic of the trashing of Manila Bay, and serves as a visual
\nreminder of the pollution that is slowly killing the seas,” she
\nadded.<\/p>\n

Declared a pollution hotspot in 1999 by the Partnerships in
\nEnvironmental Management for the Seas in East Asia (PEMSEA), Manila
\nbay suffers from pollution from industries which dump their
\neffluents (often toxic) in the bay or in its estuaries, as well as
\nfrom commercial activities and domestic sewage. Degradation of the
\nbay has long before reached alarming levels, directly affecting the
\nhealth and livelihoods of around 10 million people living in the
\nvicinity(1).<\/p>\n

The huge volume of plastic trash which regularly finds its way
\nto this important body of water impacts greatly on the
\nsea-suffocating vital marine ecosystems and the plant, animal, and
\nhuman lives that these support. Along with less visible but equally
\nharmful pollutants, plastics have smothered the bay’s mangrove, sea
\ngrass, and coral ecosystems, and as in other coastal areas where
\nplastic trash predominates, have led to the death of birds and
\nmarine animals via ingestion or entanglement.<\/p>\n

The plastic waste survey and documentation undertaken today by
\nGreenpeace and Eco-Waste Coalition highlights the urgency of
\nimplementing waste management laws on land, particularly those
\nconcerning plastics such as disposable (single-use) packaging which
\nis expected to be the main plastic culprit in Manila Bay.<\/p>\n

Eco-Waste coalition plans to donate the recyclables which will
\nbe collected from the activity to Smokey Mountain communities. The
\nrest of the plastic trash will be incorporated in installation art
\ncreated by artist Ed Manalo. The sculptures will be donated to the
\nNational Ecology Center. The M.Y. Esperanza also plans to tour a
\nsculpture for the rest of its expedition which includes the Trash
\nVortex, an area in the North Pacific where plastic trash from all
\nover the world has converged in a great gyrating mass.<\/p>\n

“Protecting our oceans from pollution means implementing
\nmeasures on land so that land-based pollution sources are
\neffectively controlled,” said Eco-Waste Coalition secretary Manny
\nCalonzo, “Toward this end, the government should mandate the
\nlisting and prohibition of environmentally unacceptable products,
\nincluding those used for packaging. Corporations and retailers
\nshould also phase out the manufacture and use of single-use plastic
\nproducts and packaging to enable consumers to veer away from such
\ndisposable plastic products.”<\/p>\n

The Greenpeace ship M.Y. Esperanza is visiting the Philippines
\nfrom August 15 to September 3, 2006 as part of her global journey
\nto expose the environmental threats to the world’s oceans and to
\ncampaign for the establishment of marine reserves. The visit to the
\nPhilippines will draw attention to the grave impacts of land based
\npollution to the country’s fragile marine environment.<\/p>\n

Greenpeace is an independent, campaigning organisation which
\nuses non-violent, creative confrontation to expose global
\nenvironmental problems, and to force solutions essential to a green
\nand peaceful future. Greenpeace is committed to defending the
\nhealth of the world’s oceans and the plants, animals, and people
\nwho depend upon them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Other contacts:<\/b> Beau Baconguis, Greenpeace Southeast Asia Toxics Campaigner, +63 917 803 6077
\nArthur Jones Dionio, Regional Media Campaigner, +63 921 5615305
\nLea Guerrero, Media Campaigner, +63 916 374 4969
\nManny Calonzo, Eco-Waste Coalition, Secretary +63 9158226554<\/p>\n

Notes:<\/b> (1)Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas in East Asia (PEMSEA) notes
\nhttp:\/\/www.undp.org\/gef\/05\/pass_protect\/project_results\/reviewed\/iw\/Pemsea%20notes%20(IW2).doc<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\n\tFollowing the arrival of the Greenpeace ship M.Y. Esperanza in Manila as part of the group’s global expedition to defend the oceans, the ship\u2019s crew and volunteers from Greenpeace and the Eco-Waste Coalition this morning collected approximately four cubic meters of plastic trash from Manila Bay onboard inflatable boats, as part of a waste survey and documentation to monitor the extent of plastic pollution in Manila\u2019s famous coastline. Manila Bay is considered one of the most polluted bays in Asia, and plastics comprise most of the floating litter on its surface.\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"","p4_local_project":"","p4_basket_name":"","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[20,8],"p4-page-type":[14],"class_list":["post-1284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sustainability","tag-oceans","tag-plastic","p4-page-type-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1284"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1284\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1285,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1284\/revisions\/1285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1284"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=1284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}