Filipinos call on e-commerce platforms to reduce the use of plastic products and seek sustainable development

As the holiday shopping season approaches, Greenpeace Philippines is calling on the country’s e-commerce companies to reduce the use of unnecessary plastic products and seek sustainable , environmentally friendly alternatives.

Affected by the epidemic , more and more people choose to shop online. According to a report by e-commerce giant Lazada, during the Double 12 promotion last year, Filipinos spent 420 million minutes shopping on the platform ;   Shopee also said that 12 million items were sold out in the first 24 minutes of the big sale .

The sharp increase in e-commerce sales has brought about a large amount of plastic waste, most of which will be directly landfilled and cannot be recycled.

According to Oceana , the use of plastic packaging bags will increase from 942 million kilograms in 2019 to 2.056 billion kilograms in 2025.

Greenpeace activist Jefferson Chua mentioned in a speech before the 9.9 Shopping Carnival that the arrival of the holiday shopping boom and the continued epidemic will promote more e-commerce sales, which will also bring a heavy burden to the earth .

These piles of unnecessary plastic waste place a burden on our families and communities , and while buyers have a responsibility to sort and dispose of this waste , companies with the capital and resources cannot leave all the environmental protection work to consumers , but should take the initiative to seek sustainable development .

Online Petition

More than 14,000 people have signed an online petition launched in November last year calling on Lazada and Shopee to integrate zero-waste systems in their businesses.

They asked the two e-commerce giants to disclose waste estimates, reduce waste production by introducing reduction targets, and redesign the existing system by exploring reusable and compostable packaging and incentives.

Later, Lazada said in a statement that it is committed to creating a sustainable e-commerce ecosystem . It said it has launched several key initiatives with its brands and other industry partners to help consumers make smarter consumption choices and provide consumers with reusable packaging.

Chua also mentioned that companies should publish their waste estimates and sustainability plans , reduce current waste generation , choose product packaging materials wisely, and most importantly, use reusable and environmentally friendly packaging to deliver goods to consumers .

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