Coca-Cola Philippines, in collaboration with the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, brought together non-profit groups and stakeholders at an event, aiming to drive conversations and partnerships around critical sustainability areas including water and recycling.
A distinguished lineup of speakers, including Alma Porciuncula, Chief of Party, USAID Safe Water Program; Katherine Custodio, Executive Director, World Wildlife Fund; Rene Guarin, Regional Vice President for Asia Pacific, Plastic Bank; and Marilyn Balais, Operations Manager, Trash to Cashback, Basic Environmental Systems and Technologies, Inc. (BEST) shared their organization’s best practices in supporting environmental sustainability.
Senior Director for Public Affairs, Communications, and Sustainability at Coca-Cola Philippines Ivanna Dela Torre said this event marks the first time Coca-Cola Philippines has gathered such a diverse and influential group of partners.
“Our aim is to provide a platform to drive meaningful conversations and actions that will help lead to efforts in our communities that focus on sustainability,” Dela Torre shared. “Improving water security and waste reduction in the Philippines requires the concerted efforts of all sectors. Through events like this, we can create stories of change, impact, and innovation that inspire others to take action towards environmental sustainability.”
Moderated by veteran and award-winning journalist Lois Calderon, the event also fostered essential partnerships between partners, NGOs, and journalists specializing in environmental issues while amplifying the conversation around sustainability efforts nationwide.
BEST Operations Manager Marilyn Balais emphasized the event's significance: “Public-private partnerships are essential in driving long-term positive change. This event gave us a platform to share concrete steps and recognize the whole-of-society efforts necessary to tackle our environmental challenges.”
Collaborative solutions to address partnerships around packaging circularity and water security
The stakeholder event highlighted Coca-Cola Philippines and its partners' initiatives in support of the company's global World Without Waste strategy, which aims to make its primary consumer packaging recyclable by 2025, use an average of 50 percent recycled material in its packaging globally by 2030, and help collect and recycle the equivalent of each bottle and can it sells by 2030.
Among these initiatives is the Sari-Sari Store Training and Access Resources (STAR) program, a joint effort between Coca-Cola Philippines and TESDA, focused on providing entrepreneurship training for micro-retailers. In 2020, this initiative transitioned into the iSTAR program, a fully digital learning platform.
iSTAR aims to address key barriers that hinder the development of women entrepreneurs, such as limited access to training, resources, and mentorship. Implemented in collaboration with six civil society organizations nationwide, the multi-awarded program equips micro-entrepreneurs with essential digital skills to leverage online platforms for business growth and sustainability.
Further building on the foundation of digitally skilled micro-entrepreneurs, Coca-Cola Philippines also extends support through the Tindahan Extra Mile, a collaboration between Coca-Cola Philippines, BEST, and the Philippine Association of Stores and Carinderia Owners (PASCO).
Through the program, micro, small, and medium enterprise owners transform their stores into collection points for empty plastic bottles, which supports efforts to help reduce plastic waste and prevent pollution. Micro-retailers earn environmental points for collecting bottles, redeemable for cashback and products, strengthening their business.
Coca-Cola Philippines also has a partnership with Plastic Bank for the Ecosystem Impact Program. This program helps build collection and recycling systems in communities to prevent plastic bottles from ending up in places where they should not be—including our rivers, oceans, and landfills—while empowering workers in the waste management sector by equipping them with tools for efficient waste collection, financial and business literacy, operations management, and health and sanitation.
On the water security front, the Ipo Watershed protection project, in Bulacan supplies water to Metro Manila.
Forest cover within the watershed has dramatically dropped from 85 percent to just 40 percent in recent years due to illegal logging and unsustainable forest practices, which has resulted in a reduction in the natural water storage capacity of the basin.
Since 2016, The Coca-Cola Foundation and Coca-Cola Foundation Philippines have worked in partnership with WWF-Philippines to protect rainforests of the area, replant trees and provide livelihood opportunities. As of 2022, he project reforested 165 hectares of degraded land in the watershed and supported local communities to start household gardens to grow food.
For more information on Coca-Cola Philippines’ sustainability efforts, visit the Coca-Cola Philippines Sustainability Hub or follow its official social media channels.