Tycoons warn of job losses from plastics ban

BUSINESSMEN have warned Congress that thousands may lose their jobs once plastic bag usage is banned.

In a statement over the weekend, Francis Chua, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) president, said about 300 domestic plastic bag manufacturers and processors, which employ a total of about 175,000 people, would be affected by passage of bills aiming to regulate or phase out the use of plastic bags.

Chua said PCCI has submitted to Rep. Danilo Ramon Fernandez of Laguna (First District), who chairs the House committee on ecology, a position paper wherein the business group said “any regulation, ban or charge system through tax or environmental levy on any packaging material should be backed by and based
on a life cycle analysis and cost-benefit analysis.”

In the paper, PCCI also asked that a recycling system be put in place “to divert resources from waste and for stricter implementation of existing laws on anti-littering, waste segregation and establishment of sanitary landfill.”

Also, Chua said the National Solid Waste Management Commission should hasten its evaluation of packaging products as mandated under Republic Act 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, while the public should await the study results.

“The problem on clogged waterways is caused by indiscriminate disposal handling and improper segregation of solid waste. A concerted effort between the government and the business sector to establish a mechanism for the collection and recycling of plastic bags may be a better alternative and the more sustainable solution to the pollution problem and clogging of drainage systems,” added Felipe Gozon, PCCI vice president for environment. –BEN ARNOLD O. DE VERA, Manila Times