Two companies, makers of beloved brands, bare their efforts and strides toward their environmental and sustainability goals.
For the forest
During its recent virtually held Sustainability Summit anchored on the theme #ItsOurHome, Procter and Gamble (P&G) Philippines launched the Philippines Forests for Good program.
Designed to support the company’s net zero emissions goal, Forests for Good aims to actively protect nature, beginning with 12 pilot programs in 12 months across its Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa (AMA) region, by planting trees that help improve local ecosystems. The Philippines is one of the pilot countries supporting this natural climate solution, helping forestation efforts in the Sierra Madre Mountain Range.
It has entrusted each employee with trees, planted on their behalf by farmers in the Sierra Madre mountain range. Employees can name their tree, virtually travel to see it up close, check on it and learn more about it as it grows, and learn more about the farmer who planted it.
According to the company, there are currently 5,000 trees and counting in the P&G Forest for Good in Sierra Madre.
P&G’s climate goal is to achieve carbon neutrality by the end of the decade, cutting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at P&G sites globally by buying 100 percent renewable electricity and increasing energy efficiency.
Here at home, the company’s Cabuyao plant is already using renewable electricity and has successfully cut more than 80 percent of its manufacturing GHG emissions ahead of the company’s global target.
Water conservation
P&G, maker of several toiletries and household brands among others, also announced the progress its making to achieve its global water goals. Its 2030 goal is to promote and support water conservation and protection for people and nature.
The P&G Cabuyao plant tracks its overall water consumption and recycles wastewater inside the plant. Aside from initiatives within its manufacturing plant, they are actively innovating on brands and products such as laundry brands Tide and Ariel to help reduce consumer in-home water use.
Reducing waste
Efforts in reducing and managing waste has been ongoing at P&G. According to Raffy Fajardo, president and general manager of P&G Philippines, “We will reduce the use of virgin plastic and start using alternative materials in our Philippines’ product bundling activities as well as point-of-sale materials found inside stores.”
The company reported that the virgin plastic overwrap packaging on Safeguard multi-packs had been replaced by 100 percent recycled paper carton material, reducing about 8,500 kilometers of plastic wasted every year (one thousand times the length of Boracay shoreline). Its new Herbal Essences bio:renew collection likewise uses post-consumer recycled material for its bottle packaging.
Breathing new life to plastics
Mondelez Philippines – whose brands include popular snack food items Oreo cookies, Toblerone and Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolates, Eden cheese and sandwich spread, Tang powdered beverage, and more – supports recycling and reusing of packaging material in line with its goals toward zero waste to nature by 2030.
The snacks maker works with Plastics by Manila Automat and Green Antz Builders to help promote and strengthen the circular economy of plastics in the Philippines.
Plastics by Manila Automat is a collaborative design and production studio aimed at renewing the value of recycled plastic waste by encouraging people to become recyclers. Green Antz creates eco-bricks and construction materials made with recycled plastic.
The move to partner with organizations that recycle plastic waste that would otherwise end up in landfills is also an innovative way to change the public’s perception that plastic is a problem. “Think of the circular economy of plastics and how recycling can indeed change a problem into an opportunity,” said Joseph Fabul, country manager for corporate and government affairs of Mondelez Philippines.
“We want to contribute to a circular economy where packaging material is recycled or reused, while minimizing food waste and the overall environmental impact of packaging, including on climate change,” he shared.
Fabul continued, “To help achieve this, we are working to find solutions to the shared problem of packaging waste – fixing broken processes, policies, and perception. These include making all our packaging recycle-ready and labelled with recycling information for consumers by 2025. We also committed to invest in waste management projects where we are present and ensure that by 2025, 5 percent of our plastic packaging is from recycled content.”