Asia is a vast market for biobased packaging. Part of this is down to the high economic growth rates on the continent. Now, regulation is another demand driver, with many Asian countries passing new anti-plastic pollution regulations since 2020.
We round up the progress that six Asian governments have made in regulating plastic waste and building a market for biobased alternatives.
The Philippines: stopping plastics at their source
Plastics regulation is becoming more popular across Asia, where many countries are on the front lines of the pollution crisis.
The Philippines are a case in point. This is a country where half a million metric tons of plastic waste leaks into the environment every year and between 70% and 90% of illegally disposed waste ends up in water bodies. Now, legislators are taking action.
In 2024 the Philippines enacted its ‘extended producer responsibility’ statute. This law made it the first Southeast Asian country to approach plastics waste reduction by penalising the companies that make them rather than just the end consumer.
Under the law, plastic producers must pay a fee to the government based on how much plastic they put onto the market. Producers can either reduce plastic production to mitigate their penalties or else buy plastic credits or offsets that certify a tonne of plastics elsewhere has been removed from the environment.
The producer responsibility statute does not outright ban single use plastics. However, the government is exploring a more consumer-focused route to plastic waste reduction as well. On this front, the 2020 National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC) Resolution No. 1363 is notable, directing the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to prepare and implement the gradual elimination of single-use, non-compostable plastic products.
Under the resolution, government agencies, departments, and stakeholders will cooperate in looking at ways to decrease the consumption of single-use plastics and promote the recovery and re-use of plastics that are difficult to eliminate.
China: sweeping single-use bans
Laws that cut the use of non-biodegradable plastics create a market for biobased substitutes since companies have to adopt renewable, biodegradable options in applications where packaging cannot be eliminated entirely.
China is one of many countries worldwide that has recently banned non-biodegradable plastics, a policy that should stimulate demand growth for biobased packaging in the country.
China comprises almost half of Asia’s gross domestic product. In the biobased sector too it is a giant: the biobased plastics industry there is expected to expand to 2.53 million tonnes by 2026, representing CAGR growth of 49%.
The country has been experiencing severe environmental fallout from its rapid industrialisation. As a result, it has gradually intensified its regulation of plastics consumption since 2011.
The most important recent intervention was the 2020 Catalogue of Prohibited and Restricted Production, Sale, and Use of Plastic Products. The catalogue listed plastic products, including single use plastics and microbeads, that would be either restricted or banned in phases up to 2025.
The catalogue banned the manufacture of ultrathin plastics used in agricultural sheeting and packaging was banned. Non-degradable bags were banned in all cities and towns in China under the law starting from 2022.
The law also prohibited hotels and guesthouses from providing disposable plastic products, another category of plastic product listed under the law.
The final category that faced a phased ban was plastics packaging in postal delivery services. Already, postal services in major regions are not allowed to use plastics in their packaging. By the end of 2025, the ban will extend to all delivery services across the country.
The new policy was also a win for bioplastics producers, since the catalogue allows for biodegradable plastics. Since the plastics regulation came into force, there has been a huge jump in PLA plastic capacity in China. This is a biodegradable bioplastic that can replace oil plastics in many single use applications.
However, more policy work will be needed to deal with this surge in PLA use. Without specialised industrial capacity to break it down, the PLA will simply pile up in the environment just like its oil-based predecessors. This is because PLA is biodegradable but not compostable – it will not break down in natural conditions.
South Korea: a strong track record
South Korea has one of the most favourable policy environments for the growth of the bioplastics and circular industries.
Already, the east Asian country has some of the highest rates of plastic waste collection for recycling in the world. It also recycled a large portion of their food waste into fertiliser or biogas.
At the end of 2020, the government there announced that by 2050 it aims for all plastic packaging to be bioplastics and to reduce its plastic waste by 20 percent by 2025. It also wants to increase the recycling rate.
Producers of biodegradable materials hope this will grow demand for more sustainable materials such as PHA, a plant-based plastic that can biodegrade in natural environments but have all the same properties that make oil-based plastics so useful.
Recently, the government began to phase-in measures to cut back on nationwide plastics use. Yet more consistency is needed from the government for Korea to achieve serious reductions in its plastic waste and cut costs for producing biodegradable alternatives where they are needed. So far, the government has failed to enforce a ban on plastic straws it put in force in December 2021 after outcry from small businesses and the self-employed.
India: bans need stronger implementation
Two years ago, India banned single use plastics but its impact has been diluted by weak implementation and the low availability of scaled alternatives that can be used where some packaging is unavoidable.
The plastics ban applied to plastic bags, cutlery, straws, food packaging, and disposable water bottles. It came into force in 2022.
India’s case shows that laws reducing the supply and use of plastic only works when there is also a policy in place to deliberately scale up sustainable alternatives.
Small businesses in particular are unable to absorb the costs of switching to more expensive biomaterials in use cases where some packaging that offers similar properties to petroleum plastics are necessary – for example, in food delivery. The cost problem is crippling to street vendors in India’s large informal economy that rely on the cheapness and convenience of plastic containers.
Bangladesh: government doubles down on enforcement
The Bangladeshi government has been trying to stem the plastic deluge since 2002 when they became the first country in the world to pass legislation banning the production, sale, import, and use of single-use polythene plastic bags.
The reason that Bangladesh was so quick to enforce an anti-plastics policy was simple. The country faced a huge infrastructural threat from discarded bags, which were piling up to 13 ft at the bottom of rivers and clogging drainage systems, increasing flood risks.
Despite its early moves to tackle the plastic pollution issue with legislation, the country quickly confronted the challenges of organising an anti-plastics policy. Political pushback and disunity prevented the government from properly monitoring and enforcing the law. Plastic use and pollution only grew.
Finally in October 2024, the new government of Bangladesh announced it was stepping up to finally enforce the 2002 ban, seizing plastic products and shutting down production across the country. Single use plastic bags for grocery purposes have been prohibited since last October and 17 plastic materials used in single use plastic will be phased out gradually.
Malaysia: roadmap focuses on biodegradables
Malaysia currently does not have laws in place banning or phasing out single-use plastics. What it does have is a 2018 roadmap that charts a pathway to zero single-use plastics by 2030.
Malaysia’s waste reduction roadmap is a planned programme of research, stakeholder consultation, and legislative revision. The country is currently in the 2022-2025 phase 2 of the scheme, with the government providing funding for R&D into ‘eco-friendly’ alternatives, manufacturing, and other activities to prevent plastic pollution. Biodegradable materials are a key focus.
The final stage of the zero single-use plastics roadmap will begin in 2026 and end in 2030. In this phase, the government aims to increase the amount of sustainable packaging made for the Malaysian market.
Malaysia’s roadmap stands out for its attention to the legislative details necessary to guide market participants on how to comply with any plastics bans that do eventually come into force. This includes legally defining what biodegradable and compostable materials are.
Still, actual bans or phase-outs will be needed for Malaysia’s pollution problem to abate. The government has indicated that it is considering a nationwide ban on single-use plastic bags by 2026.
