1 February 2025, Quezon City. In a unique display of collaborative relationship built through years of dialogue and advocacy, civil society organization EcoWaste Coalition feted the paint industry association of the Philippines and seven of its member companies, as well as national and local government authorities, for the country’s continuing efforts to eliminate lead in paints.
At a high-spirited gathering held on January 31 in Intramuros, Manila to celebrate the group’s 25th anniversary, the EcoWaste Coalition presented “Awards of Recognition” to several individuals, institutions, and groups, including partners in the paint industry and the government for their dedicated efforts to advance the national ban on lead-containing paints, and protect the health of children, workers and others from lead-based paint hazards.
The International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN), a global network of public interest groups working to reduce and eliminate the harm to human health and the environment from toxic chemicals, was cited for, among other contributions, partnering with the EcoWaste Coalition in the conduct groundbreaking lead paint research, public information, alliance-building and policy advocacy efforts, which ultimately contributed to the promulgation of the historic lead paint ban in the Philippines.
The Philippine Paint and Coatings Association is recognized for its leadership in promoting industry wide shift to lead-safe paint production.
The Philippine Paint & Coatings Association, Inc. (PPCAI) was recognized for its vital role in promoting industry compliance to the phase-out of lead-containing paints that was successfully completed in phases on December 31, 2016 for lead-containing decorative paints and on December 31, 2019 for lead-containing industrial paints. In 2023, the PPCAI expressed its support to the civil society initiative advocating for the inclusion of lead chromates under the Rotterdam Convention, underscoring its commitment to promote responsible practices within the country’s paint and coatings industry. In 2024, it co-published with the EcoWaste Coalition and IPEN a “Public Notice on Lead-Containing Paints” to alert consumers on imported non-compliant spray paints that have proliferated in the domestic market.
Commended for replacing lead additives with non-lead alternatives and for securing third-party Lead Safe Paint® Certification were some of the country’s top paint companies, namely, Pacific Paint (Boysen) Philippines, Inc.; Davies Paints Philippines, Inc.; Sycwin Coating & Wires, Inc.; Asian Coatings Philippines, Inc.; Roosevelt Chemical, Inc./Triton Philippines; FH Colors & Coatings Corp./A-Plus Paints; and the Treasure Island Industrial Corp.
Also recognized were the SCS Global Services, the US-based Lead Safe Paint® Certification body, and the Philippine Institute of Pure and Applied Chemistry (PIPAC), the partner laboratory in charge of the paint sample preparations.
Philippine paint manufacturers are participating in the third-party lead-safe paint certification program to assure consumers that their products comply with the lead paint standard.
To recall, the Lead Safe Paint® Certification program was developed by IPEN with inputs from the EcoWaste Coalition and PPCAI (formerly known as PAPM). This certification scheme, the only global program of its kind, independently confirms that the lead content in a paint does not exceed 90 parts per million (ppm), internationally the strictest regulatory standard for lead content in paint. It is also the legal limit set by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Administrative Order No. 2013-24, or the Chemical Control Order (CCO) for lead and its compounds, as well as the limit prescribed by the UN Model Law and Guidance for Regulating Lead Paint.
The EcoWaste Coalition honored the DENR for, among other things, promulgating the said CCO banning lead in paints, which paved the way for the issuance of supplemental policies at the national and local levels on mandatory procurement and use of lead-safe paints.
Foremost among these additional regulations were Department of Education (DepEd) Order No. 04, series of 2017 and Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Memorandum Circular No. 2018-26. The former requires “the use of independently certified lead-safe paints/coatings” in school facilities, furniture and fixtures, learning materials, tools and equipment at all pre-school, elementary and secondary schools. The latter directs the “mandatory use of lead-safe paints by local government units (LGUs),” which the DILG reiterated through an advisory in 2023 urging LGUs “to continue their commitment and advance their initiatives to further strengthen the ban on lead-containing architectural, decorative, household, and industrial paints.”
In 2021, the CCO received the coveted Future Policy Award (special category on lead paint) given by the World Future Council.
Just as importantly, LGUs, the Davao City Government and the Quezon City Government in particular, were recognized for collaborating with the EcoWaste Coalition in the pursuit of ecological solutions to waste and pollution challenges, including the enactment of ordinances requiring the mandatory acquisition of lead-safe paints for publicly funded painting, maintenance and renovation activities. The municipal government of Roxas, Palawan Province also enacted a similar ordinance.
The Baguio City Government was likewise cited for its cooperation with the EcoWaste Coalition. In support of the lead paint ban, for example, the city authorities removed the lead-tainted children’s play equipment at Burnham Park in response to the investigation carried out by the EcoWaste Coalition and replaced them with lead-safe ones.
To protect children and other vulnerable sectors against the health-damaging effects of lead exposure, the EcoWaste Coalition will continue to build on past and present accomplishments in eliminating lead use in paints, toys and other products for a healthy and toxics-free future for all.
