Republic Cement and Nestlé Philippines announced that they have expanded their partnership which started in 2019 on reducing plastic waste. In 2019, Nestle Philippines which was tagged as the worst polluter of the Manila bay, tapped Republic Cement for the co-processing of post-consumer plastic waste by using the latter’s cement kilns. Recently, the two companies inked a new agreement that aims to increase the amount of post-consumer plastic wastes to be collected and co-processed during the year.
Under the partnership, Nestle Philippines will collect post-consumer plastic wastes for cement kiln co-processing. Republic Cement will then utilize and dispose of qualified waste streams through their cement kiln co-processing, a process used to create cement which entails taking raw materials such as calcium carbonate and silica and feeding them into a kiln along with fuel.
Nestle Philippines’ press release stressed that cement kiln co-processing in a country like the Philippines is more advantageous compared to land filling and physical treatment, since Energy and minerals from waste are almost completely used up. With this process, wastes are diverted away from going to waterways or oceans like the Manila bay
(Sources: Nestlé Philippines; The Manila Times; Manila Bulletin)