Philippines: Local groups demand companies to pay for pollution caused by plastics
"Western-made plastic trash is killing Asia's oceans", 12 August 2018
...[L]ocal groups are fighting back with demands that the companies pay for their polluting ways.
...[S]ingle-use plastic products manufactured by multinational firms Nestle, Unilever and Procter & Gamble, among other local and regional companies, were the biggest contributors to Manila Bay's mounting garbage problem.
...Consumer products in single-use plastic sachets dominate Philippine markets due to huge demand, mostly from the middle and poorer segments of society, that multinational companies profitably supply.
...[T]he European Commission (EC)...plastics are "even reaching citizens' lungs and dinner tables, with micro-plastics in air, water and food having an unknown impact on their health," the EC said.
...[A] group of 25 investors handling global assets...urged multinational consumer goods companies, namely Nestle, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble and Unilever, to reduce their use of plastic packaging.
Plastic, when exposed in seawater for a long time, can become toxic, experts said. “...[T]he potential human health implications are concerning,”....
...[Sonny] Malubag, a Filipino fisherman, says that the production of single-use plastic should be minimized, if not eradicated altogether, to help restore the health of Manila Bay and oceans in other parts of the world. “[All] our livelihoods are affected by plastic pollution in the ocean.”