Toward sustainability

“This aligns with the government’s commitment to building resilient and sustainable infrastructure”

AS AN organization advocating for environment protection and sustainability, the Million Trees Foundation, Inc. lauds the approval by the Department of Public Works and Highways on the use of polyethylene terephthalate plastic bottle waste as an additive to enhance stability and extend the lifespan of asphalt-paved national roads.

A Department Order has been signed by DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan on the standard specification for the use of the bituminous concrete surface course with PET plastic bottle waste.

“Turning waste into valuable resource for building better and more roads is the future of public infrastructure development in the country. The public can expect more of these policies as we vow to continue to fund for these construction innovation,” Bonoan said.

Last year, the DPWH through Department Order 139 prescribed the standard specification for the use of the bituminous concrete surface course with low-density polyethylene plastic bag waste. The use of LDPE plastic bag waste in asphalt cement mix has successfully passed testing and met standards set by the DPWH Bureau of Research and Standards.

The DPWH said the plastic waste mixture now forms part of the DPWH Standard Specification for Highways, Bridges, and Airports, Volume II, and is now included in the Department’s Project and Contract Management Application which will be used for future projects of DPWH Regional Offices, Unified Project Management Office Clusters, and District Engineering Offices nationwide.

This aligns with the government’s commitment to building resilient and sustainable infrastructure.

Even before the DPWH initiative of using plastic waste in roads construction, San Miguel Corporation has pioneered in this effort.

In November 2019, SMC, with project partner Dow Philippines, built a 1,500 square meter pilot test area at the former’s logistics center in Gen. Trias, Cavite involving around 900 kgs. of plastic waste or around 180,000 sachets and plastic bags used as binder, together with bitumen in the production of asphalt.

The road is accessed by vehicles including 18-wheelers with heavy loads and served as a test to determine its long-term durability.

SMC Chairman and CEO Ramon S. Ang said: “What we want to achieve is to help address an important environmental issue, and that is plastic wastes. We want to create a sustainable use for waste plastics so that they don’t end up in landfills and our rivers and oceans.”

SMC is actively involved in environment protection and in promoting sustainability. To help address plastic waste, SMC discontinued its plastic bottled water business since 2017.

Its cement manufacturing facilities have been using plastic wastes for fuel aimed at reducing landfill waste, dependence on fossil fuels and lower greenhouse gas emissions. “It’s a more environment-friendly and sustainable alternative to using traditional fuels,” RSA said.

Sustainability has always been ingrained in SMC’s company culture and built into all aspects of its businesses.

“We continuously invest on programs that preserve the environment and promote environmental stewardship among various stakeholders” said RSA.

Its Better Rivers Ph initiative has desilted the Tullahan-Tinajeros river systems, Pasig River, Pampanga River, rivers in Bulacan and Laguna, and water channels in Paranaque. SMC also has its tree-growing activities, all undertaken at zero cost to the government.

The SMC Chairman is a problem-solver—continuously looking for actual solutions to get the best outcome not only for his organization but for the greatest number of Filipino people.

At MTFI, SMC is an active institutional partner in reforesting critical watersheds. Aside from its annual endowment, it funded the land development and construction of several structures at the Million Trees Nursery and Eco Learning Center including greenhouses, the Executive Lounge, SMC Multi-Purpose Hall, known as Eddie’s Barn, Circle of Life, inside the La Mesa Watershed.

The recently opened MTFI composting facility bears the name “Malasakit,” inspired by SMC’s guiding core value. The facility houses the composting machine provided by the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Soils and Water Management under its Composting production Implementation Program. Organic fertilizers are now being produced in the facility to cater to the saplings and planted trees inside the watershed.

MTFI has opened an area at the Eco-Learning Center for carpentry work. Discarded wooden pallets and crates sourced from SMC’s logistics facility in Paranaque and donated confiscated logs from DENR-NCR are recycled into furniture pieces.

(MTV is president/chief executive officer of Media Touchstone Ventures, Inc. and president/executive director of the Million Trees Foundation Inc., a non-government outfit advocating tree-planting and environmental protection.)