With sustainability as a priority, local enterprises are working together to educate consumers and encourage responsible recycling habits.
Catherine Chua, the sustainability manager of Tetra Pak Philippines, said that key players need to work together to raise awareness and change consumer behavior.
“When we full-blast our advocacy to the end consumers on recycling-use beverage cartons, we have a system that exists to support the behavior change that we are driving,” Chua said.
Tetra Pak has partnered with businesses, organizations, local government units, junk shops, and material recovery facilities. Among these partners are Carpel Corporation, Rural Industrial Corporation (RIC), and Basic Environmental Systems and Technologies, Inc. (BEST).
Carpel Corporation president Illuminada Pestano-Teves said that the enterprise launched the “Linis Ganda” program, which empowers junk shop owners and waste collectors nationwide by providing livelihood opportunities.
Any valuable recyclable items collected from households by “eco-aids” are delivered to participating junk shops.
“The recycling centers are the ones who consolidated from eco-aid. And then, the role of Carpel is the consolidator of all recyclable cartons and papers,” Pestano-Teves explained.
“After consolidating, sorting, and compacting the one we outsource from all over the Philippines, not only in Metro Manila, we deliver it to [the] manufacturing company as a source of raw materials,” she added.
According to Pestano-Teves, the enterprise has become a supplier for some of the largest paper mill companies in the country and in Southeast Asia.
Meanwhile, RIC converts beverage cartons into recycled materials, such as kraft paper and boards.
Ricca Norinne Lao, RIC’s assistant general manager, said they process the cartons delivered by Carpel Corporation. She added that the boards can be reused multiple times and recycled.
To boost community participation, Jan Vincent Mercado, senior vice president for business development at BEST, said the company created the “My Basurero App” and “Trash to Cash” initiatives.
“We created the ‘My Basurero App’ and ‘Trash to Cash’ so that whatever people produce, there is a corresponding item [that] equates to corresponding points, which they can use to purchase groceries,” he said.
He added that individuals can track their points as well as data such as the weight and type of recyclable items they exchange.
Tetra Pak ASEAN sustainability director Terrynz Tan, meanwhile, emphasized the importance of making these projects accessible to effectively drive behavioral change in the community.
“It’s important for us to make sure that the facilities are ready and it’s accessible because if they do want to respond and if they are enticed to do so and collect, but if the facility’s infrastructures are not in place, then perhaps we will not be able to entice them as much,” she said.
The liquid food processing and packaging solutions company provides access to safe food in over 160 countries. It plans to expand its portfolio to solid food packaging.