The World Bank reported that a staggering 2.7 million tons of plastic waste are generated in the Philippines each year, and an estimated 20 percent ends up in the ocean.
With the growing problem of waste disposal in the country, listed cement manufacturer CEMEX Philippines highlighted its sustainable waste management solution, through an industrial process called ‘co-processing’ at a Regional Solid Waste Management summit organized by the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) Region VII of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
“Co-processing is one of our climate-smart solutions that we employ in our operations. It is an effective means to divert plastic and other residual wastes away from municipal landfills and integrate them efficiently into our cement-manufacturing process, resulting to complete breakdown of waste and toxic substances,” said Christer Gaudiano, CEMEX Director for Enterprise Risk Management, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs.
At present, CEMEX has at least 30 local government unit partners across the country to co-process a portion of their municipal wastes, which are transported to CEMEX plants, such as the Solid Cement Plant in Antipolo, Rizal and the APO Cement Plant in Naga, Cebu.
From January to July 2022, CEMEX facilities have already co-processed solid wastes equivalent to 27 days’ worth of waste in Metro Cebu.
CEMEX recognizes the importance of a multi-sectoral approach in solving the country’s problem on waste management and plans to expand its waste management partnerships to more LGUs and even the private sector to broaden this cause.
CEMEX’s climate-smart actions are in line with its Future in Action agenda, a global strategy which focuses on reducing CO2 emissions by more than 40 percent by 2030 and with the ultimate goal of becoming a net-zero CO2 company by 2050.