The plastic packaging industry is experiencing a single-digit growth at par with the economy’s expansion but local players fear the cost of their products could double once the government imposes excise tax on single-use plastics (SUPs).
“The excise tax will result in demand destruction,” said Benjamin Chua, president of the Philippine Plastics Industry Association (PPIA) on the sidelines of the opening of the PackPrintPlas Philippines 2024 in Pasay City yesterday.
Chua said bills are pending in Congress for the imposition of a P100 tax per kilogram on SUPs.
Chua said the cost of raw materials for plastics is P70 per kg and the finished product is at P90 per kg.
“That could easily translate to P190 per kg with the tax,” Chua said, adding part of this would eventually be passed on to consumers.
In previous proposals, the tax was just P20 per kg which Chua said was acceptable to the industry at the time.
“P100 is unfair for the industry.
Why discriminate on the plastic industry when the alternative product depends on importation for its raw materials,” Chua said, referring to paper packaging.
In his speech, Gernot Ringling, deputy regional head for Asia of Messe Dusseldorf, noted the Philippines packaging industry is projected to reach 69 billion units, with a robust 3.3 percent annual growth rate.
PackPrintPlas, co-organized by Messe Dusseldorf and Global-Link MP Events International Inc., serves as a venue to showcase sustainable solutions to packaging.
