PET RECYCLING PROJECT OF SMC with CESDEV

Over 700 million PET bottles are used in the Philippines annually. This number is expected to grow due to the increasing consumer preference for convenient and easy-to-handle packaging. As these bottles are designed for single use, most find their way to the landfill, canal, estero, river, lake, ocean or any place where garbage finds its final resting place.

As a leading manufacturer of beverages using PET bottles as containers, San Miguel launched its PET Recycling Project, the first Bottle-to-Bottle Recycling Project in the Asia that transforms the postconsumer PET bottles back into its original form—with specifications at par with the virgin material, thereby reducing dependence on imported materials. The Mag-ligPET Para sa Kalikasan program is a massive awareness building campaign on the benefits of recycling. The program will collect some eight million bottles for recycling in the first 12 months, eventually increasing this to 120 million bottles on the 10th year. SMC’s PET recycling project has gone a long way since its February 2004 launch. After the pilot training in the Makati Division of Schools, a memorandum of agreement paved the way for a series of information campaigns and workshops for students and school heads of the various public schools in Metro Manila, Pampanga, Iloilo, Cebu, and Davao. The program encourages students to collect PET bottles in exchange for facilities or equipment as reward. As of March 2006, the foundation partnered with 1,025 schools nationwide. University of Cebu is one of the partner schools of SMC in this program and through the efforts of UC Nursing CESDEV, the partnership proved to be very fruitful.