ALI sets new path to Zero Waste, introduces pilot Eco Hub in Arca South

As it works towards offsetting its carbon emissions and achieving carbon neutrality by 2022, Ayala Land, Inc. (ALI) launched a new sustainability target that advances waste management efforts in its commercial properties. It recently opened its pilot Eco Hub facility in Arca South— the Company’s 74-hectare estate in Taguig. This new facility aims to collect and reuse discarded plastic materials and transform them into valuable resources for construction in ALI’s developments.

“This Eco Hub will help us drive segregation, and eventually improve reduction at source. We have seen how people continue to practice segregation when they are assured that their segregated plastic waste actually goes to the proper facilities,” said ALI Sustainability Manager Anna Gonzales.  She added that through these processes, waste becomes a building block for something more useful. “More importantly, people who segregate waste become more aware of their impact on the environment and eventually work toward reducing their waste production,” said Gonzales.

The Eco Hub is developed in partnership with environment-friendly construction products and solutions provider Green Antz Builders.

“We shred clean and dry plastic discards and mix them with sand, cement, gravel, water, and an additive to produce eco bricks, eco pavers and eco cast.” Green Antz President and CEO Rommel Benig shared.

While over 35,000 tons of garbage is generated in the Philippines every day, 95% of the total waste is actually recyclable or can be turned to compost.

Clean and dry plastics such as plastic laminates or “sachets” can be washed, shredded and used as components to produce ecological products such as eco bricks.  Collected and segregated wastes from the Materials Recovery Facilities (MRF) in Ayala Land properties in Makati, Taguig and in the South of Metro Manila will be recovered and diverted for eco-bricking in the Eco Hub facility in Arca South.

Parallel to the operation of the Eco Hub, the Company is intensifying R&D for the processing of other wastes such as food and other compostable materials in order to minimize the waste that typically goes to the landfills.

The long-term vision of Ayala Land is to replicate and improve this initiative rapidly in other ALI properties in order to properly manage waste at source as well as to upcycle plastics and other discards on a larger scale.

The pilot facility will also serve as a venue for refining the Company’s waste management strategies and for the conceptualization of new products.