Recycling as trade defense

The Philippines has a garbage problem that the world can see. Tons of our plastic waste continue to end up in the ocean. What lies ahead, however, is not only an environmental problem but also a trade problem. Philippine companies that sell into Europe are at risk.

Diplomats failed to agree on a global plastics treaty in Busan, South Korea late last year. The European Union did not wait. It moved ahead and finalized rules that require recyclable packaging for all products sold in the EU. The clock is now ticking for Philippine exports to Europe.

The EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, or PPWR, is now law. Starting August 2026, Philippine brands that export food, cosmetics, electronics, and other goods to Europe must meet new standards on recyclability, labeling, and empty space. Failure to comply can create new barriers to entry.

The plastic problem is no longer a matter of cleaning rivers and protecting oceans. It is also a matter of defending market access, particularly in Europe. Between August 2026 and 2030, we need to overhaul export policies, regulations, and business practices so our export goods can keep their access.

The EU’s PPWR requires all packaging to be recyclable by design by 2030, with binding measures arriving in phases as early as next year. It mandates harmonized labels to remove consumer confusion, strict limits on void space or air in boxes, and high separate-collection targets for beverage containers. These rules touch every pack that crosses the EU border.

This matters because the Philippines is an exporting economy. Our bananas, dried mangoes, coconut oil, semiconductors, and many other goods do not travel unwrapped. They travel in packaging. As our trading partners pivot to circularity, our domestic packaging ecosystem must adapt.

If we do not align, our producers may be forced to keep dual inventories, one pack format for export and another for local sale. That creates higher costs and production inefficiencies that can kill competitiveness, especially abroad. It also sets a poor example at home. Why should we accept weaker standards locally than those we are forced to meet in Europe? The standards should be the same.

In this sense, the biggest threat to Philippine exports may not be tariffs. It may be the physical design of our packaging. Under the new regulation, a shipment can be rejected at the border not because of what is inside the box, but because of the box itself. Food and electronics could take the biggest hit.

Consider dried mangoes. The product is world-class. The foil pouch that carries it is not. Most pouches today are multi-layer laminates, a sandwich of plastic and aluminum bonded together. Recycling plants cannot separate these layers at scale.

Under PPWR timelines, that kind of packaging will lose market access unless producers shift to materials that real facilities can process. The EU is not against plastic by default. It is against packaging that cannot be recycled in practice.

Semiconductor exports face a different risk. The PPWR limits the empty air inside a package to a maximum of 50%. Many electronics are small and often ship in large cartons padded with foam and bubble wrap. Exporters will need to reduce air, right-size boxes, and avoid restricted protective foams.

The first wave of restrictions starts in August next year. These include tighter rules for food-contact packaging and chemicals, which affect exporters that rely on grease-proof papers for baked goods or wrappers for fast food. Philippine products risk losing shelf space to competitors that already invested in circular design and compliant materials.

We are not starting from zero. We already have an Extended Producer Responsibility law, Republic Act 11898, that compels large companies to recover plastic waste. The law, however, focuses on waste tonnage recovered rather than the design choices that prevent waste in the first place. It does not hard-wire design for recycling, uniform labeling, or a national deposit-return system.

What we need now is a clear legal mandate for design. Companies should be required to use packaging that can be recycled in practice and at scale. Many will resist on the basis of cost. But if we intend to keep market share in the EU, exporters may no longer have a choice. Retooling is cheaper than losing a market.

Stronger rules will also shift the domestic market toward better packaging. Yes, there will be costs. But the benefits to consumers and the environment make the effort worthwhile. We cannot continue to rely on un-recyclable formats that fill dumps and leak into waterways.

We should align domestic rules with international standards via a Philippine version of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation. Congress is now considering a tax on single-use plastic bags. However, a comprehensive PPWR-style law is the larger system change. The bag tax can play a supporting role.

Voluntary pledges will not get us there. Recyclability by design should be mandated. That mandate requires clear technical specifications and objective criteria for recyclability across plastic, glass, paper, metals, etc. We can match ISO and EU benchmarks, provided we also incentivize investments in domestic recycling capacity and offer smart tax breaks for re-processors and clean-material logistics.

The EU’s 2030 deadline may be ambitious for some domestic formats. We can phase it. Maybe 10 years from now, any package that cannot be recycled in practice and at scale should no longer be allowed on store shelves. We should apply a similar discipline to imports that enter the Philippine market, since those packs end up in our waste stream as well.

The immediate priority is exports. Encourage local manufacturers to upgrade now for the EU deadline in 2030, then complete the shift for the domestic market by 2035. That window gives producers more time to retool and gives investors time to build the wash lines, pulping capacity, cullet logistics, and sorting facilities that a circular system needs.

A new mandate can also standardize and harmonize waste-sorting labels nationwide. Consumers deserve simple, consistent instructions on how to dispose of each pack. We can revive deposit-return systems for bottles and cans, set reasonable limits on single-use formats like condiment sachets and dine-in disposables, and scale refill and bulk dispensing where density supports it. The goal is to create clean, predictable material streams that finan-ciers and recyclers can bank on.

Policy design should reward good choices and penalize poor ones. Producers that use mono-material, clear, label-friendly, and truly recyclable packaging should be rewarded. And those that persist with complex laminates and hard-to-recycle formats should be penalized.

Design for recycling is both a sustainability move and a cost-management strategy because it prevents waste and reduces contamination. Recyclable packaging is also a trade defense strategy as well as an environmental re-form. We protect export access by meeting the rules of destination markets and we protect our coastlines by keeping valuable materials in circulation.

Government can help finance the transition. Part of the revenue from a single-use plastic bag tax can fund capital expenditures for modern materials recovery facilities, deposit-return clearinghouses, standardized bins and labels, and enforcement. The tax should not be viewed as a burden on consumers. It should be seen as a bridge that carries us from today’s leakage to tomorrow’s circular system.

Science already supports alternatives. Research validates cellulose, starch, chitin, lignin, and other agricultural residues as viable inputs for packaging. These bio-based materials can become films, trays, and coatings. Many are compatible with existing recycling streams, and some work in controlled composting where bio-waste collection exists.

We should scale R&D, set performance standards, and pilot commercial applications with farmers, universities, and manufacturers. Recyclable and biodegradable are not marketing lines. They are performance requirements that must be proven in real facilities.

We must change how packaging is designed, labeled, collected, and funded if we want to keep export markets and clean up our streets and seas. A Philippine PPWR, working alongside the existing EPR law and a well-designed plastic bag tax, can deliver that change.

A local PPWR sets the system rules for design, labeling, and collection. The EPR law provides a financing backbone and accountability. The plastic bag tax nudges behavior in the short term and helps fund the infrastructure that will make itself unnecessary over time. The change will also protect our exports. Saving the environment is saving the economy.