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Apr 10, 2019

A Zero-Waste Lifestyle: Waste Management Objectives

As it works towards offsetting its carbon emissions and achieving carbon neutrality by 2022, Ayala Land, Inc. (ALI) launched a new sustainability target that advances waste management efforts in its commercial properties.

It recently opened its pilot Eco Hub facility in Arca South— the Company’s 74-hectare estate in Taguig. This new facility aims to collect and reuse discarded plastic materials and transform them into valuable resources for construction in ALI’s developments.

“This Eco Hub will help us drive segregation, and eventually improve reduction at source. We have seen how people continue to practice segregation when they are assured that their segregated plastic waste actually goes to the proper facilities,” said ALI Sustainability Manager Anna Gonzales. She added that through these processes, waste becomes a building block for something more useful. “More importantly, people who segregate waste become more aware of their impact on the environment and eventually work toward reducing their waste production,” said Gonzales.

The Eco Hub is developed in partnership with environment-friendly construction products and solutions provider Green Antz Builders. “We shred clean and dry plastic discards and mix them with sand, cement, gravel, water and an additive to produce eco bricks, eco pavers and eco cast.” Green Antz President and CEO Rommel Benig shared.

While over 35,000 tons of garbage is generated in the Philippines every day, 95% of the total waste is actually recyclable or can be turned to compost. Clean and dry plastics such as plastic laminates or “sachets” can be washed, shredded and used as components to produce ecological products such as eco bricks. Collected and segregated wastes from the Materials Recovery Facilities (MRF) in Ayala Land properties in Makati, Taguig and in the South of Metro Manila will be recovered and diverted for eco-bricking in the Eco Hub facility in Arca South.

Parallel to the operation of the Eco Hub, the Company is intensifying R&D for the processing of other wastes such as food and other compostable materials in order to minimize the waste that typically goes to the landfills. The long-term vision of Ayala Land is to replicate and improve this initiative rapidly in other ALI properties in order to properly manage waste at source as well as to upcycle plastics and other discards on a larger scale. The pilot facility will also serve as a venue for refining the Company’s waste management strategies and for the conceptualization of new products.

Sustainable Property Waste Management

In the past year, we’ve witnessed more waste getting churned out on a daily basis, especially with a global pandemic ravaging nations left and right. From face masks to surgical gloves, plastic face shields, and personal protective equipment, the volume of waste can only grow following the amount of scrapped health and safety products used or consumed.

This is what sustainable waste management aims to address; instead of the linear “make-use-dispose,” the goal is to practice the concept of a circular economy.

Shunning landfills and incineration, the concept of circular economy relates to processes like segregation and recycling waste, eventually transforming these into a resource. The aims of waste management include enabling sustainability, which serves to address environmental and socioeconomic concerns, such as the anticipated number of plastics that may end up as ocean waste.

Eco-bricks and Plastic Recycling Programs

As earlier mentioned, Ayala Land and Green Antz’s partnership has been focused on turning plastic waste into eco products since 2019. These eco pavers have been utilized in sidewalk improvement projects at the Makati CBD – an excellent and creative way to showcase and encourage sustainability while reducing plastic waste.

Echoing the concept of the circular economy, using these eco products in construction and property development serves to fulfill the Company’s waste management objectives and targets.

The Benefits of Waste Management

While there are a bevy of advantages and benefits from waste management, effective sustainable waste management also includes composting at home or in a condo. The segregation, collection, washing, shredding, and repurposing of plastic wastes provide benefits such as:

• It can be a lucrative practice.
• It keeps the environment cleaner and fresher.
• The combined effect in the reduction of waste and production of recyclables enables energy conservation and reduces the consumption of natural resources.
• Moving away from landfills and incineration reduces the harmful effects of environmental pollution.
• It also creates opportunities for employment.

A Better and More Sustainable Lifestyle with Ayala Recycling

Since its inception, the Ayala Land and Green Antz partnership has rechanneled around 55,000 kilos of plastic waste produced by 220,000 individuals in one day. This has resulted into 173,000 eco products – a large enough volume to construct 50 classrooms measuring 60 sqm each. Imagine this amount of plastic waste going into the ocean or getting dumped in landfills.

With Ayala Land’s sustainable waste management efforts, especially during the pandemic, more people have become aware of its significance. You can support Ayala Land’s championing of zero-waste-to-landfill by segregating and bringing your plastic waste, such as plastic food containers, PET bottles, and wrappers or sachets, to our drop-off points in Vertis North, Quezon City, Salcedo Saturday Market in Makati, and Sunshine Mall in Taguig. You can also choose to buy eco products like the bricks and pavers for your home gardens and wall renovations.

Through Ayala Land’s sustainable waste management practices, we aim to encourage everyone in doing their part in recycling and achieving zero waste living

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