Century Pacific, Shakey’s sign deal with Republic Cement to co-process plastic waste

Century Pacific Food (CNPF) and Shakey’s Pizza Asia Ventures (SPAVI) signed an agreement with Republic Cement to co-process post-consumer plastic waste, converting the material into energy as an alternative fuel in producing cement.

In a statement Wednesday, Century Pacific Group said the agreement is part of the CNPF and Shakey’s push to be “plastic neutral” by 2020.

CNPF is the company behind household brands Century Tuna, Argentina, 555, and Birch Tree. SPAVI, on the other hand, is the owner of Shakey’s full-service restaurant chain in the country.

“This new partnership paves the way for us to conduct our businesses in a more sustainable way,” Century Pacific Group president Christopher Po said.

Co-processing uses high heat from cement manufacturing to completely destroy waste materials, recovering from them thermal and mineral properties which provide the energy needed to produce cement.

At a high temperature of 1,450°C, co-processed waste leaves zero residue, according to Century Pacific Group.

Republic Cement will co-process non-specific, recovered post-consumer plastic materials using the energy from plastics as alternative fuel in cement production.

“This will allow both CNPF and Shakey’s to be ‘plastic-neutral’—offsetting the amount of plastic produced with an equivalent amount of post-consumer plastics to be used for co-processing by Republic Cement,” Century Pacific Group said.

Republic Cement is licensed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to use and dispose of qualified waste streams through cement kiln co-processing.

The agreement between the companies was signed last May 31, 2019.

Concern over plastic pollution has been spurred globally in recent years, including in the Philippines.

Around 300 million tons of plastic are produced every year, according to the Worldwide Fund for Nature, with much of it ending up in landfills or polluting the seas, in what has become a growing international crisis. —Ted Cordero/VDS, GMA News