Finally, a solution to garbage pileups

Ever Bilena chairman and Blackwater PBA team owner Dioceldo Sy has found a solution to the country’s garbage pile-up problem. Last Tuesday, he invited friends from the public and private sectors to witness the unveiling of his latest “baby,” a brand-new thermal burner fabricated in Thailand using Japanese technology. It’s Sy’s way of contributing to the global environmental campaign to protect and preserve Mother Earth.

Sy, an entrepreneur who established Ever Bilena as a single-line marketing company selling nail polish in 1983 and turned it into a multi-million peso cosmetics giant with over 1,000 products, said the zero waste management undertaking is all about “responsibility beyond beauty,” his slogan for the CSR initiative. He brought in two burners which will be used for demonstrations to affirm applicability for government and private sector projects. 

“Metro Manila generates 9,000 metric tons of waste a day,” said Sy. “Our iECO thermal burner can process three tons for every eight to 10 hours with a residue of 15 to 20 kilos of ash that can be included in aggregates for cement in road building. The temperature at the top of the burner is 300C and below, about 1,200C so what you put in is burned instantly. Each burner weighs about 1.8 tons and can be transported in a low bed trailer.”

The burner is now awaiting final clearance from government agencies DENR, DOST and DOH which will test fume levels, among others. It’s widely used in Japan, passing every environmental test so Sy said he’s confident to roll out the burner for demos soon. 

Last month, Sy bankrolled the participation of a basketball team at the Terrific 12 tournament organized by the Asia Basketball League in Macau. The League also stages the Summer Super 8 basketball competition. It’s an off-season League that doesn’t compete with the schedules of the ABL, CBA of China and KBL of South Korea. Sy’s team was known as the iECO Green Warriors. It launched Sy’s latest brand.

The Warriors were coached by Ariel Vanguardia and enlisted Blackwater players Mark Cruz and James Sena, PBA D-League stalwarts Gab Banal, Matt Salem, Ron Dennison and Jai Reyes and Fil-Ams Avery Scharer and Kyle Toth. Richard Howell, the 2014 PBA Commissioner’s Cup Best Import with TNT from North Carolina State, and University of New Mexico 6-8 forward Sam Logwood, 22, were iECO’s reinforcements in the Warriors’ first game against the Ryukyu Golden Kings of Japan. Howell went down with a leg injury midway the first period and never played again in the 103-75 loss to Ryukyu. He failed to score a point. Howell was replaced by another former TNT import 6-7 Tiras Wade, 36, for iECO’s next game against the Xinjiang Flying Tigers of China. The Warriors lost a 107-103 heartbreaker to Xinjiang led by Chinese national team star Abudushalamu Abudurexiti, the highest-paid player in the CBA.

The burner launch was held at the Ever Bilena complex in Caloocan. Among Sy’s guests were DPWH Secretary Mark Villar, Hans Sy, Robina Gokongwei Pe, Willie Ocier, Sen. Sonny Angara’s wife Tootsy, Commission on Filipinos Overseas chairman Secretary Nick Acosta, Jones Lang country manager Christophe Vicic, ABS-CBN’s Ernie Lopez, Excite Events CEO Gelo Serrano and former world boxing champion Gerry Peñalosa. To celebrate the occasion, the candidates of Miss Earth came to express support for the initiative. 

Sy himself put trash into the burner during a demo at the launch. Secretary Villar and several Miss Earth candidates took turns in depositing all sorts of garbage. Sy said he will look into using a conveyor to regulate the efficient deposit of trash and eliminate the human effort of physically throwing in garbage.

Sy, 60, is experiencing unprecedented success this year. Aside from his flourishing businesses, Sy’s Blackwater team is enjoying its finest performance in the PBA Governors Cup. He was recently honored as Asia CEO’s Entrepreneur of the Year and received the PLDT’s MVP Bossing award.  And to top it all, his daughter Denice, married to Jacob Munez, is 23 weeks pregnant and Sy will soon become a grandfather.