The packaging industry will continue to grow, albeit below the gross domestic product (GDP), this year due to high cost of raw materials, according to Joseph Jocson, president of the Asian Packaging Federation.
Jocson told reporters on the sidelines of the launch of the 2025 ProPak Philippines event in Pasay City yesterday the packaging industry relies on imported raw materials to make different kinds of packaging, from plastic to boxes and tin.
Jocson did not provide figures but a report by GlobalData published in September 2024 showed the Philippine packaging industry volume was 72.3 billion units in 2023, with an annual compounded growth rate of 4 percent through 2028.
GDP growth in the Philippines is estimated by the government to range from 6 to 8 percent in 2025.
“More and more products are coming out. A major (use) of packaging is in food. As the food (and fast-moving consumer goods) industries grow, packaging grows too,” Jocson said.
Packaging, he said, is challenged by pending legislations, one of them is the planned tax on single-use plastic to as much as P100 per kilogram.
Jocson said Congress has yet to pass the measure on this Department of Finance-backed proposal.
For Jocson, this proposal will hike the cost of plastic packaging which would be passed on to consumers. He did not provide estimates.
“It will have a negative impact on the economy but will also have a positive impact to the environment. There should be a balance,” he said, without elaborating.
But Jocson sees the Extended Producers Responsibility (EPR) Act as a good start in addressing environmental concerns on the use of plastic, as manufacturers have been complying over and beyond the mandate of the law.
Under the EPR, manufacturers were required in 2024 to recover at least 40 percent of the plastic they use in their production.
Meanwhile, Jocson led industry and government leaders in launching the 2025 ProPak Philippines, the annual international processing and packaging trade event for food, beverage, pharmaceutical and FMCG, to be held from February 12 to 14, 2025, at the World Trade Center Metro Manila in Pasay City.
The event expects to bring over 250 industry leading exhibitors and brands from the Philippines and over 30 countries, with over 12,000 trade visitors, buyers and stakeholders.