Tax on single-use plastics to generate P38 billion revenue

MANILA, Philippines — The government is expected to rake in P38 billion in revenues from the imposition of excise tax on single-use plastics and contribute to addressing the worsening plastic pollution in the country.

Finance chief Benjamin
Diokno lauded the recent approval on third reading of the Single-Use Plastic Bags Tax Act in the Lower House, a measure that was pushed by the Department of Finance since the start of the Marcos administration.

The bill aims to slap a P100 per kilogram excise tax on single-use plastics removed from the place of production or released from custody of the Bureau of Customs.

The measure will result in a 75-percent increase in the price of a pack of plastic “labo” bags or the plastics used in buying a kilo of rice or those used in selling ice in small stores. Volume is expected to drop by almost 25 percent.

The retail price of “sando” bags or the plastics used in the wet markets or groceries, among others, will likewise jump by nearly 80 percent and lead to a 26 percent decline in volume of plastics.

A 70 percent assumption in collection efficiency will translate to estimated revenue of P38.06 billion for the first five years of implementation, or from 2023 to 2027.

Further, the proposed excise tax will increase yearly by four percent beginning 2026, where the incremental revenues collected will be allocated to the Department of Natural Resources for the implementation of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.

Plastic pollution remains one of the county’s greatest waste problems and a recent report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development showed that developing economies in Asia are seen consuming and contributing most to global plastic waste in the decades to come.

“The law is our contribution to the global movement to reduce pollution, while raising revenues needed to manage economic risks and rehabilitate the country–like hitting two birds with one stone,” Diokno said.

If passed into law, the bill will promote the use of recyclable packaging, especially as taxes aimed at discouraging the use of single-use plastics are proven to be effective in curtailing plastic waste generation.

In Southeast Asia, Brunei and Vietnam have already imposed taxes on single-use plastics. Some states in the US, such as Washington, San Francisco and Seattle, also did the same and saw plastic consumption drop by as much as 85 percent.

Global plastics consumption is expected to rise to 1.23 billion metric tons (MT) in 2060 from the 2019 level of 460 million MT if bold policies are not implemented.

About 60 percent of plastic waste entering the oceans comes from five Asian countries namely China, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. The Philippines is also the world’s third biggest plastic polluter.