Top firms back drive vs garbage

MANILA, Philippines — Major consumer companies in the country have committed to support the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in its efforts to address the current garbage crisis in Metro Manila.

Government officials together with representatives of the private sector, academe and environmental advocacy groups recently pushed for a balanced approach and harmonized solutions to the waste problem.

Beverage giant Coca-Cola Philippines general manager and president Winn Everhart said the firm aims to collect and recycle every bottle sold by 2030 through its World Without Waste global initiative.

It also committed to build a P1-billion PET bottle recycling facility – the first in Southeast Asia that would substantially reduce the waste leakage in the Mega-Manila area.

Coca-Cola has also teamed up with non-government organizations through the Blastik project, a full circle collection and recycling program in 13 areas including Bataan, Cavite, Albay, Baler, Palawan, Siargao, Davao, Boracay, La Union, Negros Occidental, Marinduque, Sarangani and Metro Manila.

On the other hand, Unilever Philippines chairman Benjie Yap emphasized the firm’s “ambitious new commitments to collect and process more than it sells and halve use of virgin plastic.”

“The initiative commits to produce 100-percent reusable, recyclable and compostable packaging by 2025 and invest in technical solution to recycle sachets produced by the industry,” he said.

Unilever is currently implementing its environment programs such as collecting sachet waste in more than 300 communities in Metro Manila, incentivizing plastic waste collection and other innovations in sustainable packaging and alternative delivery systems.

Maynilad Water Services Inc. president and CEO Ramoncito Fernandez, for his part, noted the importance of having sustainability strategies.

The west zone concessionaire invested some P40.7 billion in the non-revenue water program where 360,000 leaks were repaired in 2,300 kilometers of old pipes, resulting in the recovery of 700 million liters in the last 12 years.

The Philippine Business for Environmental Stewardship has welcomed the initiatives of the big manufacturing brands to work with the government “as they re-align operations and invest heavily in pro-active initiatives to perform their critical role in the circular ecosystem to mitigate pollution and integrate waste management at all levels.”

Stratbase Group managing director and CEO Dindo Manhit also noted that a smarter approach is to focus on instilling discipline in consumers to responsibly dispose of trash in parallel with enabling policies that encourage new innovations for packaging materials and waste management systems.

“Stewardship of the environment should be everybody’s concern. The task to protect and preserve the environment is not just the government’s business, it’s everybody’s business,” Manhit added.