Torreverde Corporation’s two-day waste collection activity in May yielded 50 sacks of plasticsFirst Balfour signed a memorandum of agreement with The Plastic Flamingo (The PLAF) Philippines as it aims to support sustainable plastic waste management efforts and promote circular economy practices.

Through this initiative, the First Balfour head office in Sucat, Parañaque will serve as a private plastic waste collection hub. The plastics will be delivered to The PLAF’s warehouse where they will be turned into ecoboards, ecolumber or pellets that can be used for the construction of transitional shelters.

The partnership is part of First Balfour’s overall goal to level up and relaunch Zero Hero, its 2016 environmental campaign that challenged employees to reduce their carbon footprint.

The PLAF is a social enterprise whose mission is to end plastic pollution through the production of eco-materials and the conduct of webinars that raise awareness and promote recycling efforts.

First Balfour’s concrete and aggregates (C&A) business, Torreverde Corporation, had earlier partnered with The PLAF through the donation of plastic wastes. A total of 17 staff and workers collected 50 sacks of plastic wastes during a two-day collection activity in Taysan, Batangas.

It was C&A general manager (GM) Einstein Chiu who first connected with The PLAF in September 2021 in his concurrent role with the corporate planning group of First Philippine Holdings Corporation (FPH). The initial discussions on possible partnership opportunities in support of FPH’s decarbonization and regeneration efforts carried over to his role as C&A GM as he led the greening initiatives for First Balfour’s allied business

“Our business is generally perceived to have the most impact on the environment and while the necessity to support construction and development is there, we are pursuing efforts to minimize this impact by actively participating in environmental restoration and waste reduction programs—which apparently also aligns with the regulatory requirements in operating a quarry. We, however, will strive to go over and above the regulatory requirements. This plastic cleanup and donation drive is our little way of helping create a cleaner tomorrow for the generations to come,” Chiu said. (Story/Photos by: Dolly Pasia-Ramos)