CNN Philippines interview with PPIA re. PLASTIC BAG tax act

Mr. Aaron Timothy Lao, the President of the Philippine Plastics Industry Association, Inc. (PPIA), was interviewed by the CNN Philippines Senior Anchor, Mr. Rico Hizon, in their segment "The Exchange – Your Business is Our Business," regarding the planned imposition of a single-use plastic tax.

The World Bank estimates that the Philippines uses about one hundred sixty-three million sachets per day, and a social weather station survey reveals that seven in ten Filipinos support an overall ban on them. Can Filipinos benefit from the proposed tax on single-use plastics?

According to Mr. Lao, the taxes will have a direct impact on consumers, particularly during this pandemic. Sachets are designed to allow low-income families to purchase everyday necessities such as shampoo and instant noodles. And if we tax the packaging, the prices of these commodities will rise as well. As a result, lower and middle-income families would be indirectly taxed. According to him, it will definitely have a big impact on plastic businesses as well because companies will prefer to import the finished products that are specifically packaged in plastic, and a lot of companies will shut down. They will just import the finished goods, so it will be a lot of lost jobs and a lot of lost opportunities for the Filipinos.

Instead of taxing single-use plastics to "solve" the solid waste problem, he suggested the government investigate the issue. They will realize that the issue is not single-use plastic but a lack of waste disposal facilities. The Philippines does not have the proper waste disposal facility and only depends on landfill. If we could have a waste disposal facility like in Singapore or Japan, we could improve our solid waste management and it would be a win-win situation for all of us.

He is hopeful that this administration has the political will to better address this issue as he believes that a lot of the secretaries appointed by President Bongbong Marcos are very good ministers. He also believes that when we have a waste disposal facility, that can be another source of tax income for the government. At the same time, it can also create a lot of jobs. When you ban the SUP, you lose a lot of jobs.

He shared that for the plastics industry's developments to reduce plastic waste, we have transitioned from the previous plastic bags to microwavables already. These microwavables can be reused a lot of times, and at the end of their life they can also be recycled. The industry also provides a lot of drop-off points for your plastic waste. We also coordinate with co-processing companies and other companies that can make plastic lumber and plastic chairs from the waste.