German Philippine Business Conference on Recycling and Waste Management

Market Potential in the Field of Waste Management and Recycling

Last September 26-30, the German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. conducted a business delegation trip to the Philippines on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Action. It is part of the export initiative for environmental technologies and is carried out as part of the market development program for SMEs.

Urbanization, consumerism, and economic growth in the Philippines are accompanied by increasing waste production. The Philippines is currently the third largest producer of solid waste in Southeast Asia and is one of the largest plastic emitters in the world with around 60 billion plastic bags in circulation.

In 2020, about 16.6 million tons of solid waste were generated. By 2030, it is estimated that there will be an additional five kilograms of solid waste per capita, per year. In 2019, about 28% of major plastic resins were recycled in the Philippines, while 78% of the material value of plastics, equivalent to US$790 -900 million per year, was lost economically.

Therefore, waste reduction, reformed waste recycling and recycling, and pollution control are fundamental elements that are helping the Philippines transition to a more sustainable economy.

During the business conference on September 27, 2022, at Dusit Thani Manila, Mr. Crispian Lao, National Solid Waste Management Commissioner and Founding President of the Philippine Alliance for Recycling and Materials Sustainability (PARMS) presented to the delegates an overview of PARMS together with it's ambitious declaration of Zero Waste to Nature by 2030 and how its going to tackle the Republic Act No. 11898 "The Extended Producer Responsibility Act (EPRA)".

We are confident enough that if we do it right and help each other, we should be able to meet our targets.

According to Comm. Lao, out of 42,000 barangays, only 40% have access to MRF, and only 30% have access to sanitary landfills. We need technology to fill up the gap in the lack of infrastructure to properly treat and dispose of our waste in the Philippines. Despite these challenges, Comm. Lap still believes that this is an opportunity especially for those in the recycling industry.

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