PH debuts ‘green’ road made from recycled plastics

Ruben Manahan IV • November 22, 2019 • 0 • 107

San Miguel Corporation (SMC) has debuted the Philippines’ first road made from recycled plastics.

The pilot test site was in General Trias, Cavite, utilizing a 1,500-square meters of road with asphalt using plastics.

SMC chose the test site as it will be used primarily as a marshalling area for trucks with heavy loads, including 18-wheelers, and heavy equipment.

According to SMC president Ramon Ang, the SMC wants to help achieve environmental issues.

“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,” he said.

Around 900 kilos of plastic waste, equivalent to some 180,000 sachets and plastic bags, were used for the test site.

SMC’s technology partner, global materials science company Dow, said that recycled plastic waste acts as a binder together with bitumen, in the production of asphalt.

The company said that using recycled plastics in the production process can help make roads longer lasting and more durable compared to conventional asphalt.

Independent lab testing done on San Miguel’s recycled plastics road asphalt shows that it exceeds the standards of the Department of Public Works and Highways.

The company said that pending further testing, it can build recycled plastics roads in its facilities as well as major infrastructure projects.

Last week, San Miguel also announced that it is adopting the use of biodegradable plastics for food and non-food products.

For this, the company is utilizing the biodegradable plastics developed by Philippine Bioresins Corporation that can be 64.65 percent degraded in 24 months as compared to non-biodegradable plastics (4.5 percent in 24 months).

The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Industrial Technology Development Institute gave this innovation an Environmental Technology Verification certificate.

San Miguel has also discontinued its bottled water business a few years ago and embarked on the move to reduce group-wide non-product water use by 50% by 2025.