URC, Holcim strengthen waste management partnership

Leading consumer goods company Universal Robina Corp. (URC) and building solutions provider Holcim Philippines are collaborating on a pilot program to strengthen community waste management in line with their sustainability commitments.

URC and Holcim Philippines, represented by its waste management unit Geocycle, signed a partnership on Aug. 22 for a program that supports community waste sorters in segregating plastics from litter gathered in their municipality.

The waste materials that will be collected will be either recycled or sent to Holcim Philippines’ plant in Norzagaray, Bulacan for conversion into alternative fuels and raw materials in cement manufacturing.

The new agreement expands the three-year waste management collaboration between the two companies in which Holcim Philippines co-processes the laminated plastic wastes of URC.

URC President and CEO Irwin Lee: “Our partnership with Holcim signifies not our only commitment to achieve plastic neutrality, but also our dedication to help preserve our environment. Through this program, we hope to heighten our participation in the collect-and-recycle activities of various communities.”

URC believes that collaboration with organizations, private companies, institutions, communities, and local government units is essential to come up with a holistic and circular approach in providing solutions to the pressing plastic pollution issue.

Holcim Philippines President and CEO Horia Adrian: “We are proud to support URC in this excellent initiative that engages communities against plastic pollution. We highly welcome this program and are ready to support partners as advancing recycling is key to decarbonizing our operations and reducing consumption of virgin raw materials.”

In the first half of 2023, Holcim Philippines recycled 600,000 tons of wastes including 800,000 kilos of non-recyclable plastics as alternative resources through the co-processing operations of Geocycle. The initiative benefits 45 local governments as well as key corporate partners with zero waste objectives.

Holcim Philippines’ key role in waste management and the success of the Extended Producers Responsibility Act was recognized during the launch on Aug. 4 of LOOP FORWARD: Linking Opportunities and Partnerships Towards Circular Economy through EPR, a campaign to promote the landmark law by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the United Nations Development Programme.

Holcim Philippines is among the pioneers of co-processing, a government-approved and globally-recognized waste management technology that repurposes qualified discarded materials into alternative low-carbon fuels and raw materials in making cement.