Hanoi (VNA) – The Philippines uses a shocking amount of single-useplastic, including nearly 60 billion sachets a year, according to a recentreport released by GAIA, a non-governmental organisation.

The report is part of an effort to collect data on plastic consumption asenvironmentalists push for government action to reduce plastic waste.

It contains eye-popping figures: every day, almost 48 million shopping bags areused throughout the Philippines, adding up to more than 17 billion a year.

That figure does not include the smaller, thinner and often transparent plasticbags, the report said, adding that around 16.5 billion of those are used peryear across the country.

The statistics are based on 21 waste assessments conducted in six cities andseven municipalities across the Philippines.

More than half of non-recyclable plastic analysed in the survey came fromsachets - small plastic packets often lined with aluminium or containing othermaterials that make them non-recyclable.

On a per capita basis, it is about one sachet per person per day, FroilanGrate, executive director of GAIA's Asia-Pacific office said.

However, on a per year, it is quite shocking when the figure could amount tothe millions and billions depending on the place, he added.

The survey is the first time GAIA has tried to quantify sachet use, and theorganisation hopes to pressure both the government and industry to take actionon curbing single-use plastic.

The report found that where local-level plastic bag bans have been put in placeand rigorously enforced, usage has dropped dramatically.

GAIA urged the government to institute a comprehensive national plastic bag banthat promotes reusable bags.

And it wants regulations on other single-use plastic products and rulesrequiring companies to redesign products and packaging to minimise plasticwaste.-VNA