The plastic recycling company Plastic Flamingo (PLAF), in partnership with the CMA CGM Group, has launched a new recycling line at the PLAF upcycling factory in the city of Muntinlupa in the Philippines to mitigate plastic packaging pollution in the Asian country.
This new recycling line is projected to create an incentive for plastic sachets to be picked up for recycling, while waste collectors can pick up the discarded plastic packaging, instead of leaving them behind as litter that collects on the streets, in sewers and spills into rivers and oceans, according to an announcement.
This launch aims to collect 120 metric tons of plastic waste to be upcycled in Metropolitan Manila within a year, while 2.7 million metric tons of plastic waste are generated in the Philippines each year, with about 20% of them ending up in the ocean.
Moreover, single-serving plastic packaging constitutes one of the biggest waste issues in this country, where an estimated 163 million pieces of sachets are consumed daily, according to the international financial institution World Bank.
Since last September, PLAF has collected about 75 metric tons of plastics through junk shops, individual waste collectors and various collection points across Manila.
With the CMA CGM-funded recycling line, the PLAF will be able to expand its range of recycled plastic products beyond those that are used today to build shelters, boardwalks and outdoor furniture, according to a statement.
The PLAF will optimise the new line to roll out more products, in order to stimulate a market for recycled plastic products and also enhance the circular plastic economy.
“Thanks to CMA CGM, we are now empowered with new capabilities and resources to transform the almost-impossible-to-recycle plastic sachets into products like eco-panels which can be used to build shelters,” said Francois Lesage, founder of the PLAF, and added, “The new recycling line also translates into value for waste pickers to collect the plastic wrappers to be recycled at our factory in Muntinlupa.”
With the PLAF upcycling plastic sachets ahead, the social enterprise is now able to reduce plastic sachet from the equation of marine plastic pollution, saving marine biodiversity and the food chain.
“Through our partnership with the PLAF, we tackle plastic pollution by involving the important community and enhancing the PLAF’s capabilities in blocking the plastic tide in the Philippines,” noted Yeya Berjaoui, general manager of CMA CGM Philippines.
The French group is constantly taking actions to protect the oceans and biodiversity, as well as to fight plastic pollution. Earlier in February, CMA CGM Group announced that it will no longer carry plastic waste on board any of its ships worldwide from 1 June.
