THE Department of Trade and Industry in Central Visayas (DTI 7) supports a proposed ordinance that would require businesses in Cebu City to provide collection bins for used plastic bottles, but it wants a 180-day transition and information campaign before any administrative penalties apply.
Acting Director Esperanza T. L. Melgar said in a position paper that the environmental goals should be pursued without placing unintended burdens on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and consumers.
The measure, now before the City Council, aims to keep recyclable materials out of streets and waterways.
A refundable deposit on every container
The proposal would also introduce a rebate or deposit-return scheme. Buyers would pay a small refundable deposit on top of the price of a drink and get it back by returning the empty container.
Deposits would be P2 for polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and glass bottles and P1 for aluminum cans.
DTI 7 focused on how shoppers would see those charges. It recommended that official receipts, price tags and shelf displays separate the product’s base price from the refundable deposit, and that retailers post instructions on returning containers and claiming refunds.
Unclear pricing could confuse consumers, the agency warned, and open the door to unauthorized price increases disguised as deposit charges.
Bins at the point of sale
A separate position paper to the council came from environmental advocate Adrian Lee, founder of the 12 Baskets Movement and a member of the Cebu Citizens Initiative.
Lee’s proposed Cebu City PET Bottle Recovery, Circular Economy and Waterway Protection Ordinance would require establishments and vendors that sell PET-bottled products to provide collection receptacles inside their premises or right beside them. It would cover supermarkets, groceries, convenience stores, restaurants, hotels, schools, public markets, sari-sari stores, food stalls and other formal and informal vendors.
“Where PET is sold, PET should be capable of being returned,” Lee said in his paper.
Collection points where people buy bottled products, he argued, could keep plastic out of streets, drainage systems, canals, rivers and coastal waters.
Lee said the proposal does not blame bottles alone for flooding in Cebu City. They are one preventable contributor to clogged drainage, he said, especially when they pile up with leaves, sediment and other debris.
The proposed ordinance would complement drainage maintenance, flood-control and watershed protection efforts, not replace engineering and infrastructure work.
Requirements would scale with the size of the business. Malls, supermarkets, hotels and other large establishments could be required to install durable facilities. Smaller vendors could use sacks, boxes, cages, drums or baskets marked for PET bottles, and neighboring vendors could share one collection point.
“The objective is participation, not punishment,” Lee said.
The proposal also calls for standardized signage. Priority areas include public markets, schools, transport terminals, parks, commercial districts, tourist areas and communities near waterways or identified drainage and litter hotspots.
Getting bottles to recyclers
Bins accomplish little if no one empties them and the bottles go unprocessed, Lee cautioned. His proposal calls for a coordinated system involving barangays, materials recovery facilities, junk shops, private collectors, recycling companies and producer responsibility organizations. Implementing rules would specify who collects the bottles, how often, where they are consolidated and where they are recycled or recovered.
A public Cebu PET Recovery Dashboard would track participating establishments, recovery volumes, collection frequency, barangay-level performance and the destinations of recovered materials. Such data would show whether the ordinance is reducing plastic waste or merely adding bins, Lee said. Businesses, schools and barangays with measurable recovery results would receive recognition.
Legal basis
The measure draws on Republic Act 9003, the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, which sets the framework for waste segregation and recovery.
It also seeks to complement Republic Act 11898, the Extended Producer Responsibility Act of 2022, which makes producers responsible for the plastic packaging they put on the market.
Lee also cited the Cebu City Flood and Drainage Council’s June 2026 report, “From Watershed to City: Institutional Findings, Watershed Observations, and Recommendations Toward an Integrated Metro Cebu Flood and Watershed Governance Framework,” which links solid waste management, drainage and watershed protection.
The proposed ordinance states that collection bins would be set up first, with the program moving in phases toward a possible deposit-return or incentive system. The City would not have to launch a full refund mechanism immediately. / CAV