Recycling factories make armchairs from plastic waste

MANILA, Philippines — Recycling discarded plastic products not only prevents waste but also benefits the people. 

Waste plastic recycling factories of the Villar SIPAG Foundation have turned plastic discards into school armchairs since 2013. 

The factories can convert around 20 kilos of so-called soft plastic, mostly coming from urban communities and bodies of water, to a single armchair that resembles the wooden prototype in public schools, the foundation said in a statement. 

Located in Barangay Ilaya in Las Piñas City and in Iloilo and Cagayan de Oro, these plants can produce 1,000 armchairs in a month, with each armchair having changeable parts and a life span of 20 years. 

Each month, 500 pieces of these armchairs are distributed to schools nationwide that had made such requests to Sen. Cynthia Villar, managing director of the foundation. 

In the past, the Villar SIPAG Foundation has distributed plastic armchairs made by the waste plastic recycling factories to public schools in Metro Manila and the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) regions, and in areas in the Visayas ravaged by typhoons. 

The recent beneficiaries of these armchairs are the province of Cagayan and war-torn Marawi City, where 200 plastic armchairs were given last June 13. 

The recycling plants have also been providing livelihood to local residents, with volunteers receiving allowance and employees getting minimum wage. 

The project highlights two of Villar’s advocacies – job creation and protection of the environment. 

“In turning plastic waste into useful furniture like school chairs, we are not only reducing the amount of plastic garbage that goes into our water resources and destroys the environment. At the same time, we are also able to provide livelihood sources to the poor,” Villar, also chairman of the Senate’s committee of environment and natural resources, said.