UNIVERSAL ROBINA Corp. (URC) and cement producer Holcim Philippines, Inc. have partnered with the local government of Obando town in Bulacan for a waste management initiative.
URC, Holcim, and Obando officials recently signed a tripartite agreement to provide incentives for workers at the town’s material recovery facility (MRF) based on the volume of waste diverted.
“This new agreement, with Obando as a key partner, aims to further drive community-based waste diversion efforts. We hope to replicate it in other towns and cities to amplify the impact of what we set out to do three years ago,” URC President and Chief Executive Officer Irwin C. Lee said in an e-mailed statement on Monday.
As of writing, the MRF in Obando has collected and sorted 785 metric tons of plastic waste for co-processing.
The town’s MRF workers received rice sacks during the agreement’s signing ceremony in recognition of their role in the program.
For the past three years, URC and Holcim, through waste management unit Geocycle, have been processing waste plastic from URC’s operations for proper and secured treatment through cement kiln co-processing.
Nonrecyclable plastics are converted into alternative fuels for the cement kiln used to produce cement at Holcim’s plant in Misamis Oriental.
Meanwhile, Holcim Chief Sustainability Officer Samuel O. Manlosa, Jr. said the waste management agreement supports Holcim’s sustainability plans.
“This supports our goals to accelerate decarbonization and circularity of operations by reducing reliance on conventional fuels and virgin raw materials and make a positive impact on communities,” he said. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave