San Miguel looks to increase plastic waste consumption

Philippines-based San Miguel Corp (SMC) is reportedly buying more plastic wastes to fuel its cement plants.

"It's a more environment-friendly and sustainable alternative to using traditional fuels," said Ramon Ang, president and COO of SMC, in a statement.

The initiative comes after the company’s launch of a series of sustainability efforts, which include discontinuing its plastic bottled water business, building the country's first recycled plastics road and spending PHP1bn (US$20.64m) to rid major river systems of waste.

SMC’s affiliate, Northern Cement, is capable of consuming up to 1.5Mta of plastic waste. As such, the company is aiming to reduce the use of traditional fuel by up to 50 per cent and to substitute it with plastic wastes.