HOLCIM Philippines Inc. and its waste management unit Geocycle on Monday pledged to help the municipalities of Binangonan, Cainta and Taytay in Rizal in sustainably managing their waste management systems by converting these materials to low-carbon fuels in cement manufacturing.

In a statement, Holcim Philippines said they sealed the partnership with the leaders of the municipal governments where the three municipalities will transport to Holcim’s Bulacan plant nonhazardous and non-recyclable residual wastes such as plastics, laminates, textiles and rubber for pre- and co-processing. Holcim will receive up to 650 tons of such materials annually.

The company will also extend technical assistance and training on waste segregation to the municipalities to ensure the efficiency of the waste collection, segregation by the municipalities and processing by Holcim.

The partnership will help the municipalities reduce the waste products sent to landfills and expenses incurred in transport of the same, allowing the municipalities to cut down their costs.

Holcim Philippines said they support 28 municipalities and cities throughout the Philippines in waste management with 18 added this year.

In 2021, the company co-processed sorted municipal solid waste equivalent to the annual output of 17,500 households, helping local governments divert these away from landfills.

“We are thankful to the local governments of Binangonan, Cainta and Taytay for their trust in our ability to provide a safe and environmentally sound waste management solution. We need more innovative and solutions-driven local executives who want to convert their increasing waste management challenges into opportunities for a greener community. We need them to rethink waste and replace conventional waste management practices with newer, more sustainable ones,” Jon Alan Cuyno, Holcim Philippines head of Geocycle, said.

Co-processing is a governmentapproved and globally recognized waste management technology that repurposes non-recyclable qualified discarded materials from various industries into alternative low-carbon fuels and raw materials used in cement kilns.

Among the environmental advantages of co-processing are the extremely high temperatures of kiln and longer treatment time materials that prevent formation of harmful gasses. There are also no residues to be disposed of in landfills.