Industrialization has the concomitant effect of harming the environment that must be mitigated particularly in the use of plastics, mostly for packaging and the manufacture of household items.

Rising consumption of goods globally has produced a sea of plastic waste resulting to increased carbon emissions that worsen climate change and lead to illnesses, extreme flooding, drought and wildfires.

Almost all manufactured goods also involve the use of chemicals and chemical processes.

Roberto Batungbacal, a chemical engineer and a senior advisor at the Chemical Industry Association of the Philippines, has made it his mission to bring together government officials and company executives to find ways on reducing plastic waste through the introduction of a nature-based alternative called bioplastics.

"Chemistry touches 96 percent of all manufactured products. Apart from producing bioplastics, we have been working on coming up with more circular and sustainable products. By the time I retired early this year, that gave me a new purpose," he told the Daily Tribune.

"My particular focus is coming up with bio-based plastics that come from local agricultural waste material and producing bioplastics that are biodegradable, non-toxic and recyclable," Batungbacal explained.

Batungbacal, who is the former director of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines and worked for four multinational firms, has joined scientists at the University of the Philippines Los Baños to share his knowledge on sustainability and bioplastics acquired over his 35-year career in the chemicals and plastic industry.

"Now there are 30 of us in this roundtable of the bio-based economy. Now we're talking about biofertilizers, biopesticides, sustainable fuel," he said.

Batungbacal said he has also been occupied with discussions with officials at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, or DENR, which said 24 percent of the country's more than 61,000 million metric tons of waste comes from plastics.

Waste crisis

The country produces 163 million sachets, 48 million shopping bags, and 45 million thin-film bags daily, DENR secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga reported. Thirty-three percent of them pile up in landfills while 35 percent float in the ocean.

According to the World Economic Forum, plastics account for 4.5 percent of global carbon emissions. Meanwhile, global business consultancy McKinsey & Company found plastics in some instances produce less carbon emissions by 10 to 90 percent compared to alternatives, such as paper, wood, and steel.

Batungbacal said plastic waste is, indeed, a big problem. However, he said the solution is not as obvious.

"The plastic problem is very complex. On one hand, we see the impact of plastic waste on nature and the ocean," he said.

"On the other hand, we understand the benefit of plastic to society. A lot of products cannot be delivered safely and hygienically without plastic. Some products won't stay fresh without plastic. It is very essential for packaging of pharmaceuticals," Batungbacal continued.

The chemical engineer advised the public and private sectors to look into all potential solutions to plastic waste as getting rid of all plastics is impossible. "To manage expectations, nobody thinks bioplastics can replace all kinds of plastic," Batungbacal stressed.

Still, he said bioplastics and recycling are the sustainable paths to a better future as they eliminate processes of traditional sources of carbon emissions, such as burning of fossil fuels.

"All of our chemicals, especially those based on fossil fuels are imported. If we can shift to bioplastics made of local and renewable materials, then we become more secure and independent and have less impact on the environment," Batungbacal said.

Recycling based on chemical allows reuse of key materials and produces more durable plastic, reducing consumers' need to purchase too much of it.

"You get the plastic, melt it and use it again. That's called mechanical recycling. But the important development is what you call chemical recycling. It's when you get plastic, then turn it back into molecules and polymers again," Batungbacal explained.

Sustainable products, however, he said will not come at cheap prices. "The reason is that non-sustainable products do not account for the impact on the environment. That negative cost goes to the government and we're paying for it as a society, as well as the environment," Batungbacal said.

With the potential of the chemical industry to help conserve the environment, Batungbacal hopes even more Filipinos study chemical engineering which has the second highest number of engineering graduates in the University of the Philippines, Diliman.

"First, almost everything needs chemical engineering. Second, you're able to contribute to solving a lot of problems — whether it's an environmental or health problem. It gives you purpose and meaning in your job," he said.

"When I was interviewing fresh graduates to join Dow Chemical, their first question was what does the company do about sustainability? Financial security is important but it's not enough for our youth today and I think that's very exciting," Batungbacal recalled.

Moving forward, AI or artificial intelligence can improve chemical processes and offer chemical engineers more opportunities in similarly high-impact aspects of other people's lives.

"In the chemical industry, for example, it can predict the reliability of your machines. It can tell when you should replace, clean something," Batungbacal said.

"It will also help researchers identify new molecules for cancer or virus treatment. It will accelerate the development process because it can test potential combinations up to millions of times. That is very exciting," he added.