The Bacolod City Sangguniang Panlungsod passed an ordinance banning plastic stirrers and straws in the city last week.

According to the ordinance authored by City Councilor Wilson Gamboa, Jr., plastic materials contain elements that cannot easily be decomposed, which could lead to severe environmental pollution.

The policy cited experts who claimed at least 437 million plastic straws are dumped along the world’s coastlines; however, according to a Channel News Asia report earlier this year, American Chemistry Council Plastics Division Vice President Steven Russell said the real issue is not plastic straws themselves, but fixing poor waste management practices.

“The best that can be said about the collective actions to eliminate straws is that it’s good at raising awareness, but that’s not the solution,” he explained.

Russell went on to call the plastic straw problem “0.2 percent of the waste stream.”

In addition, an article in online magazine Bustle named fishing gear, plastic bags, bottle caps, cigarette butts, balloons, and food wrappers as having a bigger impact on the environment than straws.

Meanwhile, Gamboa said Barangay Sum-ag enacted a similar policy for their annual Martesan Festival, which opened last Tuesday.

In terms of plastic straws and stirrers, residents are not allowed to sell, deliver, use, or distribute them; nor can they be prepared for distribution outside the city.

The ordinance will be enforced by the Bacolod City Police Office./JSG, WDJ