HOLCIM AR 2016 FA_LR 5-26-17

46 | 2016 Annual Report
Holcim Philippines | 47
Unloading of materials for co-processing
Ultimately, he says, the problem boils down to the
household because “the moment they fail to sort their
trash, these will end up being disposed somewhere.”
“We need to educate people to sort on site. On the
average, you can recover 80 percent of a household’s
trash, which is composed of compostable and recyclable
materials, and just dispose the remaining 20 percent. If the
law is followed, imagine how much relief we can bring to
disposal sites,” Ildefonso says.
industrial waste generated might hover around 150,000
metric tons a year.
“Let’s say we have one million metric tons of waste a
year, and you get half of it. That’s about 500,000 metric
tons that can be utilized and sorted as refuse-derived
fuel. It can give adequate heating value, which we can
utilize as an alternative fuel,” Alindao says, noting that
Geocycle also partners with local government units to
treat household waste.
Right now, waste coming from industries is not as
big of a concern to the government as household waste
because regulations governing industrial waste are being
implemented, according to Ildefonso.
Alindao agrees: “In the industry segment, waste
generation is controlled, and it’s not a lot.” He estimates
“That’s the plan for 2020 going to 2030. We want
to harness the ability of Geocycle to develop a platform
that can sort, shred, pre-treat, and pre-process waste
to make the material ready as an alternative fuel
comparable to coal,” Alindao says.
Did You Know?
Instead of dumping shredded bank notes in landfills, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) office in Davao
City contracted Holcim Philippines to co-process its waste. The old bank notes are packed into 3 kg plastic
bags, each with a calorific value of 3,820 kcal/ kg, and burned in the kiln at 0.5 tons per hour. This coprocessed
waste has been used as alternative fuel in Holcim Philippines’ Davao Plant. In Luzon, ink left over
from the BSP central office’s printing of national currency is also co-processed, fueling Holcim Philippines’
Bulacan plant.
Our company is committed to
taking care of the environment,
and part of that is ensuring proper
management of waste. We have full
trust in Holcim in fulfilling this need as
our other affiliates have worked with
the Group worldwide. From end to
end, we know that our waste will be
treated properly.”
JONG MABILANGAN is the environment safety manager
of the Wrigley Philippines’ s plant in Antipolo.