Republic Cement's resource recovery group ecoloop reported that it successfully diverted 21.4 billion plastic sachets in 2023, equivalent to 110,000 metric tons of residual waste used, as alternative fuel in the company’s co-processing operations for cement manufacturing.

“This achievement represents a significant amount of waste diverted from landfills and bodies of water, like oceans and urban waterways, and further underscores Republic Cement’s commitment to environmental stewardship and circular economy principles,” stated ecoloop Director Angela Edralin-Valencia.

The Philippines is the third largest plastic polluter of the Pacific Ocean, contributing significantly to marine plastic waste. According to a 2021 World Bank report, the Philippines generates an estimated 61,000 metric tons of waste daily, with 12 to 24 percent of this being plastic waste.

Carbon footprint

For the year 2023, Republic Cement said that it had utilized over 670,000 tons of residual waste in its overall cement manufacturing process, including other alternative fuels such as biomass and refuse-derived fuel. This is the largest amount of residual waste that the company has diverted in a single year since pioneering the use of alternative fuels in the Philippines in the early 2000s.

Republic Cement’s use of alternative fuels in manufacturing has effectively led to a 30-percent reduction in CO2 emissions per ton of cement, compared to using traditional fuels such as coal.

“In addition, ecoloop supports a circular economy, where materials are continuously reused and recycled, reducing the need for virgin materials and conserving natural resources and fossil fuels,” added Valencia.

Co-processing is the reuse or recovery of thermal and mineral properties of qualified waste materials while manufacturing cement in a single combined operation.

Compliance and leadership

With its early-adapter partners, ecoloop pioneered the plastic neutrality program in the Philippines. Many of the country’s reputable companies selected Republic Cement to implement their zero-waste to landfill programs, where manufacturing wastes are diverted from landfills for safe and secure disposal via co-processing.

Well ahead of the Extended Producers’ Responsibility Act of 2022, ecoloop also started offering plastic credit offsets in 2018, complete with third-party verification. A plastic credit offset is a program where an environmentally responsible company appoints a partner to collect, recycle, recover, or dispose of the equivalent plastic footprint in a specific period, similar to carbon credits.

Community engagement

ecoloop has also helped reorganize waste collection in the country, which has largely been an informal, backyard livelihood industry. ecoloop partners with local government units as well as waste consolidators and neighborhood junkshops to sort and collect plastic waste for co-processing.

Through these engagements, communities learn the importance of waste segregation and recycling, driving higher participation rates and better waste management practices at the source.

These partnerships also help improve the working standards, safety, and overall livelihood of the informal workers in the landfills, materials recovery facilities, and junkshops.

In celebration of Environment Month this year, ecoloop committed to continue improving its efficiency in collecting and co-processing residual waste, to make a significant impact on the Philippine plastic pollution crisis and to help improve the lives of its community partners.