Section 5Sec./Art. 5

Section 7 of Republic Act No. 9003 is hereby amended to read as follows:

"Section 7. The National Ecology Center. There shall be established a National Ecology Center (NEC) under the Commission which shall provide technical expertise, information, training, and networking services for the implementation of the provisions of this Act. As part of its oversight function, the NSWMC shall have direct supervision over the NEC.

"In this regard, the NEC shall perform the following functions:

"(a) Facilitate training and education in integrated ecological solid waste management;

"(b) Establish and manage a solid waste management information database, in coordination with the DTI and other concerned agencies:

"(1) on solid waste generation and management techniques as well as the management, technical and operational approaches to resource recovery;

"(2) of processors/recyclers, the list of materials being recycled or bought by them and their respective prices; and

"(3) on the rate of recovery of each type of plastic waste, updated semi-annually.

"(c) Promote the development of a recycling market through the establishment of a national network that will enhance the opportunity to recycle;

"(d) Maintain an EPR Registry that contains the registered EPR programs submitted by obliged enterprises or Producer Responsibility Organizations (PROs);

"(e) Monitor and evaluate the compliance of obliged enterprises and PROs, with the registration of their EPR programs;

"(f) Develop and maintain a database, which includes digital formats, subject to the provisions of Section 44-G, and ensure that it is reliable, effective, secure, transparent, and accessible to the public;

"(g) Receive sampling and assessment reports submitted pursuant to second paragraph of Section 44-H and undertake the necessary action on such reports, or complaints from any citizen against a waste generator, an obliged enterprises, PRO, or waste management entity, for the purpose of improving compliance with the law;

"(h) Provide or facilitate expert assistance in pilot modeling of solid waste management facilities;

"(i) Develop, test, and disseminate model on waste minimization and reduction auditing procedures for evaluating options; and

"(j) Within one (1) year after the effectivity of the Extended Producer Responsibility Act of 2022, provide an assessment on the volume or footprint of other generated wastes, for priority inclusion in the EPR scheme.

"The National Ecology Center shall be headed by the Assistant Director of the Bureau in his/her ex officio capacity.ℒαwρhi৷ The Assistant Director shall regularly submit reports as may be required by the NSWMC in its monthly meetings. The reports of the NEC shall be consolidated by the NSWMC Secretariat for submission to the NSWMC. The NEC shall maintain a multi-sectoral, multi-disciplinary pool of experts including those from the academe, inventors, practicing professionals, business and industry, youth, women, and other concerned sectors, who shall be screened according to qualifications set by the Commission.""