Diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. said Thursday it will purchase bigger volumes of plastic wastes to power cement facilities.
The latest move is part of the conglomerate’s sustainability effort to manage the country’s solid waste while creating more livelihood opportunities during the pandemic.
San Miguel said in a statement unit Northern Cement Corp. was capable of consuming up to 1.5 million tons of plastic wastes a year. This will reduce the use of traditional fuel by up to 50 percent and substitute with plastic wastes.
“Technology to safely convert plastic waste to energy has existed for a long time. In fact, Northern Cement has been using this on a smaller scale. Other major manufacturers, both locally and globally, have also been using this. It’s a more environment-friendly and sustainable alternative to using traditional fuels,” San Miguel president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang said.
Ang said the company’s plan to expand and ramp up its use of plastic wastes for energy for NCC could be implemented with the completion of a material handling facility in Pangasinan province.
The facility can safely collect and store plastic waste at scale and safely convert waste into energy to reduce landfill waste, reduce dependence on fossil fuels and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
“With our materials handling facility ready, we can now expand this program. We are calling on assemblers, local governments, and companies, to collect and sell your plastic wastes to us. Together, we can help our environment in a substantial way, and at the same time, create more livelihood opportunities for so many Filipinos during this time of pandemic,” Ang said.
The NCC’s technology can allow for all types of plastics to be processed and converted into energy. Ang said they were targeting plastic bottles, which make up a significant amount of total plastic waste in the world.
San Miguel group discontinued its plastic bottled water business in 2017 to demonstrate its commitment to greater sustainability.
It built the country’s first asphalt road made with recycled plastic wastes in November last year at a company-owned logistics facility used by vehicles with heavy loads, as part of a pilot test to determine its long-term durability.
The company also teamed up with Philippine Bioresins Corp., which develops and tests technology to create biodegradable plastics that meet government requirements for biodegradable materials.