In line with their continuing thrust to enable localized and community-based electronic waste (e-waste) management efforts, the Philippines’ leading integrated telecommunications network PLDT Inc. (PLDT) and its wireless unit Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) expanded its e-waste advocacy with the launch of an e-waste awareness and collection campaign at the Makati Medical Center (MakatiMed).
The joint campaign promoted, gamified, and incentivized e-waste collection among the hospital’s health care professionals and workforce, encouraging them to properly dispose their e-waste at the designated collection site within the hospital grounds. The first run held in December 2023 saw active participation with a total of 117 kilos of e-waste items collected which included old mobile phones, beepers, headphones, among others.
“As part of doing business responsibly, we are deeply conscious of the negative impacts of e-waste to our health and to our environment if they are simply diverted to our landfills and not properly managed. Sustainability is a shared priority within the MVP group of companies and we are happy to have found a like-minded and proactive partner in MakatiMed, allowing us to expand further our e-waste collections campaign to cover the MakatiMed community and partners including the physicians, nurses, allied health care professionals, the management staff among others,” said PLDT and Smart Chief Sustainability Officer Melissa Vergel de Dios. MakatiMed’s Medical Director and Interim Co-President and CEO Dr. Saturnino P. Javier, meanwhile, shared how the initiative with PLDT and Smart contributes to their broader organizational agenda for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance management, particularly in the areas of waste management and pollution control.
“MakatiMed has several initiatives focused on doing business responsibly. This collaboration is a concrete way of raising the MakatiMed community’s awareness of sustainable practices and encouraging them to act and be responsible stewards of people and the planet,” he said.
Narrating how the collaboration has been a result of PLDT and Smart’s retail store promotions for e-waste collection, Smart Vice President and Head for Channel Management Jacqueline Bocalan assured the continuity of a business-aligned approach towards promoting responsible e-waste management.
Further to this collaboration with MakatiMed, PLDT and Smart have activated e-waste collection in their retail stores in SM Megamall, SM North EDSA, SM Mall of Asia, SM Baguio and at the PLDT Smart Experience Hubs at the Smart Tower and Ramon Cojuangco Building in Makati City.
The telcos have also been continuously expanding e-waste collection activations and integrating these into in their employee activities, sales, trade marketing, go-to-market engagements, and strategic partnerships with enterprise customers, schools, and commercial establishments. These activations are reinforced by the umbrella partnership of PLDT and Smart with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources – Environmental Management Bureau, EcoWaste Coalition, and the Integrated Recycling Industries on the project implementation of safe e-waste management, and in support of the global goals on responsible consumption and climate action.
MakatiMed is the premier hospital in the Philippines for over fifty years, committed to valuing lives and providing premium and personalized healthcare services.
PLDT, Smart, and MakatiMed are among the group of companies under the leadership of business tycoon Manuel V Pangilinan.