MANILA, Philippines — The Century Pacific Group (CPG), the group behind Century canned tuna and the iconic Shakey’s Pizza chain, has committed to be “plastic-neutral” by 2020.
The companies under the group, Century Pacific Food (CNPF) and Shakey’s Pizza Asia Ventures, signed an agreement with Republic Cement to co-process post-consumer plastic waste.
CPG president Christopher Po said the new partnership paves the way for the group to conduct its businesses in a more sustainable way.
Under the agreement, the waste would be converted to energy as an alternative fuel in producing cement.
“Over the years, our companies have implemented various programs to help promote a greener Philippines. These include various recycling initiatives and attempts to reduce packaging waste.
As we grow in number of products sold and restaurant outlets opened, we’ve also sought partners to help balance out our environmental effects. This now includes Republic Cement, and we look forward to working with them in this worthwhile endeavor,” Po said.
CNPF, one of the country’s biggest food firms, is the company behind household names Century Tuna, Argentina, 555 and Birch Tree.
Shakeys Pizza Asia Ventures, meanwhile, is the owner of the Shakey’s brand, a leader in both the pizza and full-service restaurant categories.
Both are among the Philippines’ top consumer companies and are working to minimize their environmental footprint.
CNPF is the first among Philippine tuna companies to join a global coalition to ensure the conservation of seafood resources.
For his part, Republic Cement Services Inc. president Nabil Francis said the company is happy to share the advocacy with CPG to promote and support responsible disposal of plastic packaging materials to reduce its harmful effects on the environment.
The method of co-processing uses very high heat from cement manufacturing to completely destroy waste materials, recovering from them thermal and mineral properties which provide the energy needed to produce cement.
Republic Cement will co-process non-specific, recovered post-consumer plastic materials utilizing the energy from the plastics as an alternative fuel in order to produce cement.
This, in turn, would allow both Century and Shakey’s to be “plastic-neutral.”
This means that the companies would be able to offset the amount of plastic produced with an equivalent amount of post-consumer plastics to be used for co-processing by Republic Cement.
Republic Cement is licensed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to use and dispose of qualified waste streams through cement kiln co-processing.
Efforts to go “plastic-neutral” are part of CPG’s participation in global efforts to reduce plastic pollution,
Around 300 million tons of plastic are produced every year, according to the Worldwide Fund for Nature, with much of it ending up in landfills or polluting the seas, in what has become a growing international crisis.