SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — The country’s premier free port maintains its reputation as home to booming industries and businesses amidst a thriving natural environment due to the collective effort of stakeholders here to minimize waste.
Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Ecology Center manager Amethya Dela Llana said more Subic Freeport companies have joined the agency’s “War on Waste” program since the start of the Recyclable Collection Event (RCE) project in 2016.
“Our business locators now see the benefits of properly disposing trash: it’s orderly and more efficient, as well as economical,” Dela Llana said on Thursday during the 6th RCE held at the former mini-golf course along Waterfront Road here.
The participating companies brought to the collection event various recyclable items like used car batteries, cardboard and paper scraps, and light bulbs.
“It has been our company’s initiative to properly dispose of our hazardous wastes, being a company that conducts inspection, verification and tests on various products such as gas, oil and other chemicals,” said Marge Lingad, the administrative officer of SGS Subic.
Lingad said the firm used to outsource treatment of wastes generated by their operation. “But now we have found an economical way to dispose of these and at the same time, help raise funds for the environment,” she added.
Recyclable items generated through the SBMA project are sold to recyclers, and proceeds are donated to the ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya Foundation, which funds the Bantay Kalikasan, an organization that promotes healthy environment for local communities.
In the recently concluded 6th RCE, the SBMA Ecology Center recognized Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Co., Ltd. for religiously donating recyclable trash since the pilot collection event three years ago, as well as for donating recyclable trash worth P32,160 during the previous RCE.
Apart from Hanjin, the companies recognized for their contributions to the recycling project include Subic Truckboy, SGS (Subic Bay) Inc., Broadband Broadcast Services, Nidec Subic Philippines, Sanyo Denki Phils. Inc., Koryo Subic, Subic Bay International Terminal Corp. (SBITC), Wistron Infocomm Phils., Mateen Tokyo Intl. Inc., and Apollo Subic International Trading Corp.
Among the SBMA departments, meanwhile, the Procurement and Property Management Department (PPMD) was recognized for turning in recyclables worth P297,380 at the 5th RCE in November 2018.
In a short program that kicked off the 6th RCE, Dela Llana pointed out that when astronauts go to outer space, they experience the “overview effect” where they feel how fragile the earth is.
“I hope we do not have to go to outer space just to realize how fragile the earth is. With the series of earthquakes and aftershocks, let us help our environment adapt to the changes by doing environmentally-sound practices,” she added.
Dela Llana also announced that recyclable items like old tires, expired medicines, rubber shoes/slippers, and used clothes will also be accepted in the next collection event.
The RCE is part of the SBMA’s “War on Waste” program that also included an anti-littering drive, regulated use of plastic straws and plastic bags for wet products, and ban of single-use plastics.