More investments needed to support EPR law due to dearth of recyclers

THE DISTANCE to recycling centers is keeping plastic waste in the provinces from being processed, according to a fintech offering a global plastic deposit program.

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Rene Guarin, Plastic Bank vice-president for the Asia-Pacific region, said the dearth of recycling centers points to an opportunity to tap public-private partnerships (PPP) and blended finance to enable broader compliance with the Expanded Producer Responsibility (EPR) law.

There's a lot of plastics in the provinces. They just stay there because the main constraint is, “How do I bring this to recyclers if they’re far?” he added.

The expense of transporting plastics to processing facilities could exceed the value of the waste, he noted.

The EPR law requires companies to manage the entire life cycle of their plastic packaging, including disposal. It set a recovery rate target of 80% for all plastic packaging.

“I think if you take a look at recycling industry, not much investment is really coming in,” he said on the sidelines of an EPR event with Philippine companies.

“If there are no bailing machines or crushers, the cost of transport is really higher than the market value,” he said, citing feedback from waste collectors.

“Then the recyclers say, we have the machines, but sometimes our machines need to be upgraded so that they would meet international standards,” Mr. Guarin said.

“For each market, there are different standards, different kinds of machines are needed,” he added.