Republic Cement’s ecoloop targets more partners for co-processing of waste  

REPUBLIC Cement Services, Inc. through its resource recovery arm, ecoloop, targets to partner with more companies for co-processing of waste to achieve its goal of plastic neutrality, its official said last week.

“For the coming years, we are targeting more partnerships with companies with a sustainability mindset,” Angela D. Edralin-Valencia, managing director of ecoloop, told BusinessWorld on the sidelines of a Sustainability Committee meeting facilitated by the Nordic Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines last week.

Ms. Edralin-Valencia said that to date, ecoloop has partnerships with private companies and local government units (LGUs), and hopes to expand its existing partnerships.

“Our current partners are the early adopters of the EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) law. We also targeted LGUs that have political will to achieve sustainability goals,” she said.

Data from the company’s website show that ecoloop has 12 private company partners and over 30 LGU partners. Ms. Edralin-Valencia said several partnerships are in the works.

Through the EPR law, large enterprises are mandated to recover up to 80% of their plastic packaging waste. Ecoloop’s co-processing involves the reuse or recovery of thermal and mineral properties of qualified waste materials to convert to alternative fuels, helping Republic Cement to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels like coal.

“Our goal is also to make our cement a greener and more environmental-friendly product,” Ms. Edralin-Valencia said, adding that they are also aiming to cut their fossil fuel consumption.

“Our ambition is of course to replace 50% of our fuel consumption with alternative fuel. That’s a big number and certainly, a lot of investments have to be put in place from our end to get to that number but we are still reviewing our options,” she said.

Ms. Edralin-Valencia described the EPR law as a perfect model for sustainability but said its aggressive implementation is needed. She added that existing laws are enough to attain plastic neutrality.

“We’re sitting on thousands and thousands of tons of waste every day and harnessing that waste to alternative fuel is a perfect investment. Waste to energy will eventually play a factor in the enormity of waste problems and for the benefit of the country,” she said. — Ashley Erika O. Jose