San Miguel debuts PHL’s first recycled plastics road

Diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) on Friday said it has laid the first recycled plastics road in the Philippines.

In a statement, SMC said the recycled plastics roads initiative is “another major step in the area of sustainability.”

“Asphalt using plastics were laid on a 1,500-square meter pilot test site at a new logistics center in General Trias, Cavite,” the conglomerate said.

The test site was chosen, SMC said, as it will be used primarily as a marshaling area for trucks with heavy loads, including 18-wheelers, and heavy equipment.

“What we want to achieve is to help address an important environmental issue, and that is plastic wastes. We want to create a sustainable use for waste plastics so that they don’t end up in landfills and our rivers and oceans,” SMC president Ramon Ang said.

Some 900 kilos of plastic waste, equivalent to some 180,000 sachets and plastic bags, were used for the test site.

SMC’s technology partner, global materials science company Dow has said that recycled plastic waste acts as a binder together with bitumen, in the production of asphalt.

The company said that using recycled plastics in the production process can help make roads longer lasting and more durable compared to conventional asphalt.

Independent lab testing done on SMC’s recycled plastics road asphalt shows that it exceeds the standards of the Department of Public Works and Highways, the conglomerate said.

SMC said that pending further testing, it can build recycled plastics roads in its facilities as well as major infrastructure projects.

Last week, SMC also announced that it is adopting the use of biodegradable plastics for food and non-food products.

For this, the company is utilizing the biodegradable plastics developed by Philippine Bioresins Corp. that can be 64.65% degraded in 24 months as compared to non-biodegradable plastics (4.5% in 24 months).

The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Industrial Technology Development Institute gave this innovation an Environmental Technology Verification certificate.

SMC said it. has also discontinued its bottled water business a few years ago and embarked on the move to reduce group-wide non-product water use by 50% by 2025. —Ted Cordero/KBK, GMA News