YOUNG environmental activist Greta Thunberg said everybody has to contribute to save the environment for a sustainable future.
As far as the Philippine corporate sector is concerned , companies such as Republic Cement have responded to the call to save the environment by promoting a circular economy and introducing its latest product called ecoloop. According to the European Union, the consumption economic model “involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible.” In this way, the EU said the life cycle of products is extended. Moreover, the circular economy aims to limit waste and keep the materials of a used product within the economy wherever possible.
In line with promoting circular economy, Republic Cement will recycle 10 million plastic bags including sachets daily in its five manufacturing plants starting 2021 to help address the waste management crisis of the country. The plants are located in Norzagaray, Bulacan; Teresa, Rizal; Taysan, Batangas; Danao, Cebu and Iligan in Mindanao.
“It is quite ambitious but we want to rock the boat to send a message to the public,” Republic Cement CEO Nabil Francis said during the recent launch of the company’s ecoloop program.
He said recycling plastics is part of the co-processing of waste materials.
Co-processing is the reuse or recovery of thermal and mineral properties of qualified waste materials while manufacturing cement in a single combined operation. Through co-processing and the use of waste, such as plastic or rice husk, as alternative fuels, Francis said Republic can manufacture cement with reduced dependence on fossil fuels, such as coal.
Further, co-processing continues to be a sustainable solution to the rise in the country’s waste generation, which remains a major challenge even with the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act (RA 9003) in place. The country has observed a steady increase in daily waste generated over the years, from over 37,000 tons in 2012 to 40,000 tons in 2016. In 2018, Metro Manila recorded an average of over 9,000 tons of waste per day. Whereas 85 percent of the total solid wastes were collected, 15 percent ended up in waterways and bodies of water.
“Co-processing is a vital alternative that manufacturing industries can and should take toward the long-term goals of waste management as well as ultimately building our nation’s resilience against climate-change challenges through sustainable practices,” said ecoloop Director Angela Edralin-Valencia.
With ecoloop, Valencia said residual wastes can effectively be diverted away from landfills and waterways, and the plastic pollution crisis can also be addressed by capturing pre- and post-consumer waste in direct partnership with manufacturers including fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies, as well as local government units (LGUs). At present, Valencia said ecoloop has partnerships with more than 30 public and private organizations across the country. “As long as these wastes are deemed acceptable for co-processing and acceptable under the guidelines issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) through DAO 2010-6, co-processing should be prioritized over other unsustainable disposal methods that are more harmful to the environment in the long run,” added Valencia.
While co-processing involves the application of heat to destroy waste, Valencia said it is quite different from the traditional waste management practice of incineration. She pointed out that ecoloop utilizes the cement kiln co-processing method, where emissions are contained and managed within the kiln and any ash produced fully integrated into the stable microstructure of clinker, a key ingredient of cement.
On the other hand, some forms of incineration are purely for waste disposal without any energy or material recovery aspects. “There is a higher chance of noxious gases being released into the atmosphere and the ash byproduct usually still ends up in landfills,” explained Valencia.
Further, co-processing promotes the conservation of non-renewable energy sources and raw materials. The recovered heat content from the qualified wastes partially replaces the heat from traditional fossil fuels such as coal and petcoke. Recovered minerals similar to the chemical composition of sand and clay also replace raw materials used in cement production.
“In the waste management hierarchy, methods such as prevention, minimization, and recovery of materials through recycling and reusing are still preferred over co-processing. However, when these options are no longer available, co-processing remains preferred over unsustainable methods such as incineration, chemical and physical treatment of waste, and landfilling,” added Valencia.