TURNING TONS OF PLASTIC WASTE INTO BUILDING BRICKS
Some 28 metric tons of plastic waste, the equivalent of 2.8 million plastic water bottles filling up 73 basketball courts, were recycled into useful eco-products by Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) last year as part of its “circular waste management” initiative.
The plastic waste, which would have otherwise filled up Metro Manila’s dumpsites or found its way into Manila Bay, has been recycled into eco-products like bricks that can be used in pathways, sidewalks and fences within ALI’s estates and residential communities.
The country’s leading property developer explained that with online shopping and delivery becoming a necessity during the pandemic, the use of plastic for packaging and food containers further increased the volume of wastes of households.
Eco-products from ALI, Green Antz
Ayala Land partnered with innovative environmental solutions company Green Antz Builders, which converted dry plastic waste into eco-products. Green Antz uses its proprietary technology that mixes plastic with cement and other materials to form durable construction materials like bricks, pavers and casts, which are now being used in Ayala Land estates and sites as pathways, fences and sidewalks.
Anna Maria Gonzales, sustainability manager of Ayala Land, said this “circular approach” to waste management was applied in the company starting March 2019.
“The cycle involves collecting clean and dry plastics at designated drop-offs and transporting them to eco-hubs, which are recycling facilities where the plastics are shredded and incorporated into concrete products developed by Green Antz,” Gonzales said.
The first eco-hub, built in partnership with Green Antz, opened in March 2019 in Arca South, a 74-hectare mixed-used development in Taguig City. In October 2019, the Lio Tourism Estate in El Nido, Palawan, opened its own eco-hub, aiming to collect plastic within the estate and nearby communities and turn them into eco-products.
Among the users of eco-products were Globe Telecom, which turned over 24,500 eco-bricks to seven communities during its anniversary in the third quarter of 2019. The Makati central business district installed 60,000 eco-pavers for sidewalks in the third quarter of 2020. AC Energy’s SolarAce and GigaSol used more than 24,000 eco-casts to build the control rooms of their solar power plants in Alaminos, Laguna, and Zambales.
Evo City in Kawit, Cavite, is using 60,000 eco-bricks and 50,000 eco-casts for fencing, while Lio Tourism Estate produced 158,000 eco-pavers for its sidewalks and pavement.
The total plastics recycled by ALI in 2020 is comparable to the amount of clean and dry plastic waste gathered from two of its largest malls in a regular year.
“Processing and using these eco-products effectively prevented clean and dry plastics from Greenbelt and Glorietta from ending up in dumpsites,” Gonzales said.