BRAND TALK

Multinational to help clean up plastic waste in coastal, island communities in Batangas

Food and beverage manufacturer Nestlé Philippines and marine conservation social enterprise Pure Oceans have entered into an agreement to design, procure, and operate a prototype boat called Linis Islas Basura Bangka to transport plastic waste from coastal and island communities in Batangas to recycling facilities.

Under the partnership, Nestlé Philippines is funding the development of the Basura Bangka to support Pure Oceans programs in Mabini and Tingloy, Batangas. Basura Bangka is an innovative mechanism to help address the plastics situation in geographically disadvantaged, coastal and island communities that do not have access to conventional waste management solutions. 

A green roadmap

Basura Bangka is a component of Nestlé Philippines’ high-priority strategy to reduce its environmental footprint and collect and recycle soft plastic waste. The company, together with other stakeholders, is engaged in recovering and diverting such post-consumer waste away from landfills, waterways, and oceans.

Nestlé Philippines recently marked a major milestone in its actions to tackle plastic waste by achieving plastic neutrality in August, recovering 2,400 metric tons of plastic waste equivalent to the plastic used in its packaging for that month in the country. The company’s partnership with Pure Oceans is part of its plastic neutrality program, which it is committed to sustaining every month moving forward.

“We are accelerating our actions to confront plastic waste and are committed to making a significant contribution to tackle the plastics problem. Collaboration among stakeholders is important and necessary. Given the geographical set-up of the Philippines, we need to find waste management solutions as well for coasts and islands. We therefore warmly welcome our partnership with Pure Oceans in our first direct initiative to divert plastic waste from coastal areas and islands,” said Nestlé Philippines Chairman and CEO Kais Marzouki.

Diverting plastic waste from seas and oceans

Waste on the shoreline in Batangas: Basura Bangka will help address the plastic waste crisis in geographically disadvantaged coastal and island communities that do not have access to conventional waste management solutions.

Pure Oceans, led by its Founder and CEO Pia Roxas Ocampo, is based in Mabini, Batangas and works with coastal and island communities on sustainable solutions to the problem of marine plastic litter, aiming to keep reefs and seas plastic-free.

“Nestlé’s support for programs like Linis Islas shows a company trying to do better in a changed world, conscious of the impact of their manufacturing choices on the environment and the farthest, most under-served of their customers. Basura Bangka is a prototype towards making sure coastal and island communities can thrive in a purer and healthier environment. We hope that solutions like this and support like Nestle’s will grow and increase further in scale because the challenge of marine plastic litter affects all of us, and so all of us must act,” Ocampo said.

The Philippines, China, and Indonesia have been identified as among the countries where most of the leakage of plastics into seas and oceans happens.

“We are committed to examining all options in facing the issue of plastic waste in the environment and adopting a range of solutions that can make a difference. At Nestlé we are determined to pursue the vision of a waste-free future in the face of difficult challenges. We are happy to partner with Pure Oceans in this specific initiative, one that helps bring us closer to realizing that vision,” added the Nestlé Philippines CEO.