By Joseph Almer Pedrajas
A program which aims to recycle and decrease the amount of plastic wastes and used beverage cartons in Valenzuela City’s landfill was launched Monday morning.
Officers from Valenzuela City government and Nestlé Philippines pledge to support the May Balik sa Plastik program during its launching on Monday morning. (JOSEPH PEDRAJAS/ MANILA BULLETIN)
The “May Balik sa Plastik” is the first citywide residual waste collection program of Nestlé Philippines in the country. It is a collaborative initiative of Nestlé, the Valenzuela City government, the Department of Education and Green Antz Builders, Inc.
Kais Marzouki, Nestlé chairman and CEO, told reporters that they sought partnership with Valenzuela as the city has “a strong commitment to waste management.”
Valenzuela City is known for its strict waste segregation system. It also has model schools which promote plastic recycling and environmental awareness.
“Tackling the problem of plastic waste in the environment and arriving at sustainable solutions are of paramount importance to Nestlé,” Marzouki said.
Marzouki added that while they look for innovative packaging solutions to address the problem of plastic in the country, they also take immediate action to find ways to recycle their packaging.
Meantime, Mayor Rex Gatchalian said that the program was meaningful to residents of the city as it is “going to teach young people the value” in plastic wastes.
For him, his approach is not to ban plastics, but to recycle and reuse them for other purposes.
Although several schools in the city already have their own way to manage plastic wastes including using them to make tables and chairs,
Gatchalian said, the new program will help them more in managing them.
According to Nestlé, the new program has three components: public school-based plastic wastes and cartons collection, barangay-based plastic wastes and cartons collection, and informational activities “to drive awareness and behavior change.”
Under the program, eligible participants who can collect and turn over plastic wastes and beverage cartons will get incentives from Nestle and the local government.
The public information office said that, street sweepers who are able to segregate and yield qualified amount of usable wastes will receive products from Nestlé.
Meantime, public school students and teachers who will hand usable wastes will get the chance to win gift checks during weekly raffles.
The collected plastic wastes will then be used by Green Antz Builders in co-processing eco-friendly house bricks or for making cement kilns, Nestlé said.