PLDT and Smart employees trade in their recently collected and sorted waste materials for credit points at drop off locations for the PBSP Xtrash Challenge. The challenge will run until August that will benefit a partner community from the total collected amount of all participating members.
In line with its commitment to care for the environment as part of its sustainability initiatives, PLDT and Smart have enjoined its employees to take part in the 50th anniversary celebration of the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP). PBSP, the largest business-led, non-government organization (NGO), launched its NCR-wide XTrash Challenge for its 256 member companies.
In support of the company’s sustainable development goals, PLDT and Smart President and CEO Alfredo S. Panlilio personally encouraged employees in the NCR to participate in the three-month long challenge inviting “everyone to support this activity which allows us to turn waste into something meaningful: food for a community.”
The challenge aims to raise funds for a partner community from waste collected by participating members by utilizing proper waste management. PBSP has partnered with BEST, a waste management service provider that pioneered the My Basurero App, which credits points for every kilo of waste materials surrendered to them.
These segregated waste materials are classified under Metals, Papers, and Plastics and weighed in by kilograms. Metals such as galvanized steel can be traded off for seven credit points per kilo to tin cans worth three credit points, while a kilo of newspapers and cartons under Papers give three credit points each.
Under the range of Plastics category, a kilo of white hard plastic containers or clear HDPE (High-density polyethylene) can raise as much as 18 credit points while colored ones can be worth 13 credit points. Clear PET bottles and assorted plastics are worth 10 points, while colored or stained bottles and single-use plastics such as food wrapping can be traded in from one to six credit points.
These sorted waste materials can be dropped off at partner collection centers located in three sites: Brixton in Pasig, Araneta City in Cubao, and at the Quezon City Hall.
“Proper waste management is just one of the many initiatives that PLDT and Smart undertake as responsible stewards of the environment. By supporting PBSP’s XTrash Challenge, we are encouraging our employees to adopt waste segregation and proper disposal in their own homes. But not only will they be doing their share in saving the planet, they will also help provide meals for the underprivileged,” said Melissa Vergel de Dios, Head of PLDT’s Sustainability Office.
All points for the collected recyclables from each of the XTrash Challenge participating companies will be consolidated and will be used to redeem food items to benefit a PBSP-assisted urban poor community.
For more than 25 years, PLDT, together with subsidiaries Smart and ePLDT, has been an active member of the PBSP which is also currently chaired by PLDT’s Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan. The PLDT Group strongly supports the organization’s sustainable solutions to societal problems in its core program areas which are Health, Education, Environment, and Livelihood and Enterprise Development.
Supporting the PBSP’s XTrash Challenge is aligned with the group's commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs), particularly SDG #12: Responsible Consumption and Production. Under this SDG, companies are to ensure the environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle, in accordance with agreed international frameworks, and significantly reduce their release to air, water and soil in order to minimize their adverse impacts on human health and the environment.
