San Miguel Corporation (SMC) announced that they have piloted the construction of the country’s first recycled plastic road in General Trias town in Cavite in an effort to help reduce solid wastes such as single-use plastic bags and sachets and create initiatives toward sustainable use of plastic wastes.
There are about 900 kilos of plastic waste, which is equivalent to about 180,000 sachets and plastic bags, were used for the test site. They said that asphalt using plastics were laid on a 1,500-square meter pilot test site at a new logistics center in General Trias town.
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 in a statement.
Dow Chemical, the global materials science company serving as SMC’s technology partner, explained that the recycled waste plastics act as a binder together with bitumen in the production of asphalt. They further said that using recycled plastics help make roads last longer and enhance durability compared to conventional asphalt.
Independent lab tests on the asphalt with recycled plastics showed that it passed the standards of the Department of Public Works and Highways.
During his visit in Puerto Princesa City two months ago, national scientist Dr. Fabian Dayrit of the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), a government agency attached to the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) during a lecture said that a road made of plastic will be pilot tested in the country.
The DOST Industrial Technology Development Institute (ITDI) gave this innovation an Environmental Technology Verification certificate.
SMC said that pending further testing, it can build recycled plastics roads in its facilities as well as major infrastructure projects. The new venture reflects its serious commitment to its corporate social responsibility using new and feasible technology. The recycled plastics road initiative is their company’s major step in the area of sustainability.
They also had previously announced that it is adopting the use of biodegradable plastics for food and non-food products.
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