By Victoria “NIKE” De Dios
With the estimated average annual was of 2.7 million tons of plastic that pollute the oceans and adversely affect biodiversity in the Philippines, the Philippine Alliance for Recycling and Materials Sustainability (PARMS), a multi-stakeholder coalition that promotes zero waste in the country spearheaded another multi-sectoral pledge to ensure plastic and other waste do not end up in oceans and waterways.
Mondelez Philippines recently joined and committed to promoting their company’s global sustainability goals through Ambisyon 2030: Zero Waste to Nature program organized by PARMS.
PARMS, is a non-stock, non-profit organization that was established with the aim of bringing together stakeholders from the supply and waste value chain, with civil society and the academe. It works to implement a holistic and comprehensive program to increase resource recovery and reduce landfill dependence towards zero waste. Plastic waste and its effects on the environment have been in the news recently, with proposals from the government to regulate the use of single-use plastic. Like any problem, it is first important to understand the reasons behind it, to come to an effective and realistic solution. This is the mission of PARMS.
In the statement of Commissioner Crispian Lao, Founding President of PARMS, he pointed out. “We would like to be a partner to the government, advocacy groups, and consumers to better understand the issue of plastic waste”.
“What makes plastic become waste? What happens to plastic when we throw it out from our homes? How does plastic end up in the oceans and waterways? These are all questions and issues we need to take a closer look at to understand them and to find out how to solve them.” PARMS official added.
PARMS also underscored that banning plastic may put a strain on the economy and consumers. Rather, this issue should also look at the lacking waste management infrastructure in the country.
“Our pledge was signed by our members from the manufacturing industry, as well as other stakeholders and was witnessed by our government partners including Secretary Roy Cimatu of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) last January 26, 2020. This is a testament of commitment to our collective’s desire to work together, think together and collaborate to bring effective solutions forward,” Lao concluded.
The pledge signing was also complemented with consultation and planning sessions to develop and implement a roadmap with concrete short (2022), medium (2025), and long term (2030) targets to guide sound and implementable actions towards the goal of Zero Waste to Nature.
Snacks manufacturer Mondelez Philippines joined the campaign by signing the pledge last month.
Toff Rada, Mondelez Philippines’ Corporate Government Affairs and Country Manager said, “We fully support the pledge towards zero waste to nature.”
“For us, ‘zero waste to nature’ means that our packaging must not add to the world’s waste problem in the long term. We aim to deliver against this long-term vision by addressing two objectives: making it easier for consumers to recycle our packaging and supporting industry coalitions to improve recycling rates like our partnership with PARMS and the industry pledge for Ambisyon 2030,” Mondelez Philippines official said.
“Globally, Mondelēz International has committed to make all packaging recyclable and provide recycling information by 2025. It also commits to ensuring all its paper-based packaging will be sustainably sourced by 2020. As part of its community programs, Mondelez Philippines has also constructed three recycled plastic play areas in Paranaque and Quezon City, with one more to be built in Quezon City in February 2020. It is also looking to expand its post-consumer collection and recycling actions this 2020.
“Plastic is a highly efficient material which helps us develop packaging that provides the right levels of security, quality, product protection, and preservation for food products. And without plastic, the shelf life of many food products would be far shorter and would create more food waste, which is a far worse problem for the economy and environment,” Rada pointed out.
“Reducing the environmental impact of packaging and tackling plastic waste are urgent priorities for our Company. Our global and local commitments like the pledge with PARMS are the actions we take to live up to our Purpose to empower people to snack right, with the right snack, for the right moment, and more importantly, made the right way. This means packaging that performs the task of protecting food for consumers, but at the same time does not end up in nature,” Rada concluded.