Plastic industry blaming everybody but itself

Pro-plastic industry people are at it again, maligning the paper industry through misinformation.

Firstly, the paper industry does not cut trees in the Philippines for pulp.

Secondly, all mills are “recycled mills,” that use pre- and post-consumer waste—meaning, we mine the urban jungle to reduce and reuse recyclable waste materials.

Thirdly, the paper bags used to hold food are made of wood pulp coming from sustainable commercial forests abroad.

Fourthly, the water we use in manufacturing paper is treated and reused, thereby significantly reducing water usage.

The plastic industry is maligning the paper industry which just happens to be the beneficiary of the “ecological dictates” of local governments. This crab mentality debilitates the plastics industry and prevents it from evolving into something better. The trend favoring the more environment-friendly materials is evident not only in the Philippines but also in other parts of the globe. The plastic industry’s only solution lies in the proper sorting of waste; instead, while profiting from the use of plastics, it passes on this responsibility to local governments. So every time there is flood, plastic industry people blame local governments for not collecting and properly disposing plastic wastes.

The plastic industry uses fossil fuel as feedstock for its products without regard for anybody or any other thing except its pockets. With the world greatly suffering from natural calamities made worse by men’s greed, perhaps now would be a good time as any to transform the plastic industry back into the fossils its products come from.

—RAY N. GEGANTO,

chair, Technical Committee,

Technical Association of the Pulp

and Paper Industry of the Phils.,

[email protected]