Ramon Ang Set on Buying More Plastic to Fuel Cement Plants and Recycle Waste on a Massive Scale

Ramon Ang, through San Miguel Corporation, is pushing sustainability as SMC disclosed its plans to buy more plastic waste to fuel its cement plants around the country.
By sourcing plastic waste, that would have otherwise gone into landfills or become pollution, SMC hopes its initiative will manage the country’s growing amount of solid waste and generate jobs to battle the pandemic unemployment.
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Calling it an “environmentally-friendly” and “sustainable alternative to traditional fuels,” the president and COO of SMC also noted that the project of collecting and assembling plastic waste could provide means for livelihood for many Filipinos who have been laid off or underemployed due to the pandemic.
The technology of converting plastic waste into energy is not new, but this may be the first time it’s being applied at such a massive scale courtesy of one of the country’s biggest conglomerates.
After assembling the plastic to fuel SMC’ cement plants, namely Northern Cement Corp., the cement will then be used in the construction industry, which is also a major source of jobs.
Northern Cement is said to be capable of burning up to 1.5 million tons of plastic waste per year, and the new project will help the company reduce traditional fuel consumption by almost 50 percent.
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The project is aligned with SMC’s other projects aimed at practicing sustainability in the industry. SMC discontinued its plastic water bottle business “Purewater” in 2017, built the country’s first recycled plastic roads in 2019, and has an ongoing commitment to spend P1 billion to clean up garbage in the major river systems.