Ayala club targets P100 thousand from first recyclable fair

CEBU, Philippines – The 12 active member-companies of the Ayala Business Club (ABC) hope to earn at least P100 thousand from its first “Recyclable Fair” which opened recently at the Cebu Business Park (CBC).

ABC president Roy Abraham said that aside from aiming to hit P100 thousand for this fund raising activity to aid the Ayala Group of Companies’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs, holding a “Recyclable Fair” is expected to lead an “example” in taking care of the environment.

The Ayala Group of Companies is supporting the CSR programs such as providing housing for the poor called “Habitat for Humanity”, and the technology development program called “GILAS” or Gearing Up Internet Literacy and Access for Students.

“We hope other companies will follow our example,” Abraham said.

The 12 active ABC members include Globe Telecoms, Cebu Holdings Inc.or Ayala Center Cebu, Isuzu Cebu Inc., Cebu City Marriott Hotel, Bank of the Philippine Islands, BPI-MS Insurance, Honda Cars, eTelecare and others.

Since it is the first time that the group held its “Recyclable Fair”, it only partnered with one scrap buyer to purchase the recyclable items donated by the companies.

According to Abraham, the largest contributor is Globe Telecom, for its substantial scrapped items that are considered “garbage,” which include copper cables, old telephone booth, and others.

For his part, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR-7) regional executive director Leonardo R. Sibbaluca urged companies to follow ABC’s example in turning garbage into money to support their own CSR projects.

“Waste is a resource,” Sibbaluca said adding that companies should start holding recyclable fairs as there are also a growing number of companies that buy scrapped materials, and generally garbage.

According to Sibbaluca, this is part of the ongoing monitoring and campaign of the Solid Waste Management of the DENR, and companies should also adhere to this.

In the past, ABC had been holding fund raising campaigns like “ABC Bazaar”, of which proceeds went directly to Habitat for Humanity and GILAS programs.

ABC plans to hold a regular “Recyclable Fair” to encourage other companies to do the same, Abraham said.