Geothermal power producer Energy Development Corp. said Friday it teamed up with Plastic Flamingo of France for its plastic-to-shelter project as part of its mission to achieve a regenerative and decarbonized future.
“We knew that there’s always a way to do more, to have less waste, to have better environmental impact—which led to our desire to have zero waste in EDC. Our bigger hurdle came last year when we started working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic and realized that all those food and grocery deliveries and items ordered online that came in layers of bubble wrap have resulted in accumulation of plastic waste in our employees’ respective houses,” said EDC corporate support functions head and assistant vice president Regina Victoria Pascual.
“This led to our search for a partner that can help us manage our personal plastic waste and convert them into sustainable products,” she said.
EDC said the Philippines was the world’s third biggest polluter with 2.7 million metric tons of plastic wastes generated annually based on the report by McKinsey Center for Business and Environment in 2020.
EDC, the country’s largest renewable energy power producer, said it found it necessary to help in eliminating plastic waste materials towards a regenerative and decarbonized future.
PLAF is a French social enterprise with a pilot project in the Philippines that aims to develop a solution to fight marine plastic pollution in emerging countries.
EDC signed an agreement with PLAF to realize the company’s aim of plastic-free, and eventually, zero-waste company.
Pascual said waste management is nothing new for EDC as the company has been releasing sustainability reports since 2010, following the Global Reporting Initiative that includes how it manages hazardous and non-hazardous wastes.
The official said the company has been implementing various programs to eliminate plastic wastes such as information campaigns among employees on proper waste materials disposal and encouraging employees to donate eco-bricks to its sister-company, First Balfour.
Under the agreement, plastic waste materials of EDC employees who are based in Manila and adjacent areas will be collected once a month and will be turned over to PLAF for proper waste recycling, upcycling and disposal.
Part of PLAF’s program is segregating the collected plastics according to its classifications and then transforming them into eco-planks which are used in producing emergency shelter for populations hit by disaster.
PLAF chief revenue officer Gauthier Belhomme said EDC and PLAF shared the same value of protecting the environment for the benefit of the community and the future generation.
EDC human resources management group head and senior vice president Ma. Elizabeth Nasol said the company’s employees “commit to do our best to make this partnership a success, not by purposely consuming more but by being mindful of our plastic waste.”
EDC’s over 1,499 megawatts of total installed capacity accounts for 20 percent of the country’s total installed RE capacity while its 1,204.67-MW geothermal portfolio represents 62 percent of the country’s total installed geothermal capacity.
This put the Philippines on the map as the third largest geothermal producer in the world.
