SAN MIGUEL Corp. (SMC) said it conducted pilot tests on the first road in the Philippines made from recycled plastics, to help address the country’s plastic waste problem.

“What we want to achieve is to help address an important environmental issue, and that is plastic waste. We want to create a sustainable use for waste plastics so that they don’t end up in landfills and our rivers and oceans,” SMC President Ramon S. Ang said in a statement.

The test site occupies 1,500 square meters (sq.m.) at the company’s logistics center in General Trias, Cavite. The site is normally a marshalling area for trucks containing heavy loads and heavy equipment, and can be expected to demonstrate the materials’ resistance to wear and tear.

About 900 kilos of plastic waste equivalent to 180,000 sachets and plastic bags were used, serving as binder with bitumen for the production of asphalt. The added plastics can help make roads last longer than those usinge conventional asphalt.

Its partner in the development of the recycled plastics road is Dow, Inc., a US materials science company.

Further tests will be conducted in SMC’s other facilities and major infrastructure projects.

Last week, SMC said it will start using biodegradable plastics for its packaging.

It will be using plastics developed by the Philippine Bioresins Corp., which can be 64.65% degraded in two years, compared with 4.5% for other plastics over the same period.

The Department of Science and Technology (DoST) has issued the product an Environmental Technology Verification certificate.

SMC also dropped its Purewater bottled water business Purewater in 2017.

SMC fell 1.94% to P156.90 on Friday. — Vincent Mariel P. Galang

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