The City Government of San Fernando is set to further realize its goal of increasing its waste diversion rate as it entered into a partnership with a private firm that advocates for environmental sustainability.
This, after Mayor Edwin “EdSa” Santiago and Republic Cement and Building Materials, Inc. (RCBMI) President Renato Sunico signed on July 14, 2020 a memorandum of agreement which permits the firm to accept wastes from San Fernando to be used in their manufacturing activities.
In the said memorandum, RCBMI will be accepting non-recyclable residual plastics, sachets, polystyrene and discarded tires from the city for co-processing in their cement manufacturing corporations.
As part of Republic Cement’s “Plastic Neutrality” initiative, the firm aims to help companies attain environmental sustainability as it allows them to “offset the amount of plastic packaging they use during production or operations through an equivalent amount of plastics recycled or recovered.”
Sangguniang Panlungsod Resolution No. 2020-233, authored by Councilor Benedict Jasper Simon Lagman, chairman of the SP Committee on Environmental Protection, Natural Resources, Waterways, and Flooding Intervention, authorized Mayor Santiago to enter into the agreement with RCBMI.
Part of the agreement is the eligibility of the City Government to receive bags of cement to be used in its Solid Waste Management Program.
The agreement also stipulated that the firm shall provide the City Government five bags of cement for every ton of baled plastic wastes; 10 bags for every ton of shredded plastic wastes; and, another five bags for every ton of tires.
The City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) said the initial plan is to use the cement for the rehabilitation or reconstruction of the Materials Recovery Facilities (MRFs) in all barangays and the City’s Central MRF.
Initially, the CENRO said, the City will be delivering approximately six tons of baled plastic residual wastes in the coming week.
Under Santiago’s “Environment” agenda, the City has been implementing effective Ecological Solid Waste Management practices for the past years, helping it receive the branding as a “Zero Waste City” for attaining a high waste diversion rate and positive impact on financial and health aspects.
The said practices include segregation-at-source, regular collection of segregated wastes, composting of organics, and recycling.
Also present during the MOA signing were Councilor Lagman, CENR Officer Maria Regina Rodriguez, and Atty. Angela Edralin of RCBMI.