Brazil’s chemicals, plastics intensify lobbying against single-use plastics ban proposals

Jonathan Lopez

31-Oct-2023

SAO PAULO (ICIS)–Brazil’s proposals to ban single-use plastics could lead to “an unemployment tsunami” as companies unable to adapt could be forced out of business, chemicals and plastics industry groups have said.

Earlier in October, Brazil’s Senate Social Affairs Committee (CAS) passed a draft bill which would implement a ban, within one year, of single-use plastic products made from non-compostable materials.

The regulation also contemplates a ban on the use of plastic packaging that is non-recyclable or compostable within seven years.

Polystyrene (PS), widely used in food and non-food packaging, would be one of the petrochemicals affected, among other hard-to-recycle polymers.

‘UNEMPLOYMENT TSUNAMI’
Brazil’s main chemicals and plastics trade groups, Abiquim and Abiplast, respectively, are jointly lobbying parliamentarians to decaffeinate the draft bill.

They are asking for a “reformulation” in the list of products to be banned because it could force the immediate closure of production facilities whose main business is single-use plastics.

The two trade groups have said that could cause a sharp fall in employment within the sector, at a time when Brazil’s new cabinet has said it wants to revive the industrial sectors to increase manufacturing employment.

The bill still must go through several phases before final approval. After CAS’ green light,  the Senate’s plenary will vote on the text and, if passed, will then go to the Senate’s Economic Affairs Committee (CAE).

The Senate will then send the legislation to Congress, the parliament’s lower chamber, for final approval.

“Abiquim and Abiplast want to express great concern if the current draft bill is passed by the Senate. More dialogue with companies in the plastics sector is essential so that no member of society suffers from the abrupt and unplanned ban on single-use plastics,” said the two trade groups.

“If there is no significant review to the draft bill, the consequences for the economy will be enormous.”

The two trade groups have estimated the bill in its current form could have an impact on plastics sales of Brazilian reais (R) 70.2bn ($14bn) and cause the loss 205,000 jobs, or a R6.7bn reduction in wages.

Other related sectors would also take a hit, said the trade groups, with the waste collection and separation industry potentially losing 270,000 workers.

“Furthermore, not even the EU, the most advanced region in dealing with the issue, has a widespread ban on plastics as proposed in PL 2024/2022 [the draft bill],” said Abiquim’s executive president, Andre Passos.

“Europeans have even designed a long transition period for eventual replacement of the use of certain plastics, of up to 12 years.”

Paulo Teixeira, executive president of Abiplast, said the draft bill did not provide a “comprehensive concept” of circular economy policy, the result of a “fragmented vision that discourages industrialisation” and would harm both consumption and exports of essential products which must be packaged in plastic.

“It is essential to establish a working group that allows the effective participation of all parties involved in analysing the social, environmental and economic impacts of the proposals to make more assertive decisions,” said Teixeira.

“This becomes even more crucial given that, in 2022, the plastics industry produced 6.7m tonnes of material.”

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