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Interview Session with Dr. Albert Lamberte

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Interview Session with Dr. Albert Lamberte

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Engr. Albert E. Lamberte, PhD

Environmental Economist
De La Salle University

albert.lamberte@dlsu.edu.ph

"One thing why we are using so much plastic is because of the way we consume goods. Ex. My helper will ask me for a Bear Brand sachet whenever she goes to the grocery store. I asked her, “Why sachet? Why not the one in a can?” So for me, you can buy the can - it is the same - then use it for other purposes after usage. For Filipinos, sachets are much more affordable and usable on a daily basis. For her, the size of the sachet is what she can consume today. This is why people use sachets, as it is more affordable for Filipinos. For other countries, like Americans, they consume things for the long term."

"Segregating trash to reduce plastics is just not effective alone. It is hard. When it comes to our garbage disposals, the way garbage is collected is by segregating plastics, cans, and papers. The problem is the one who collects it will still combine all the garbage, so there is already no incentive for us to really segregate appropriately because of the way it is collected. So even if they collect incentives, it is hard. Because at the end of the day, it is collected aggregately.
It is not the firms that should be doing it because of the added cost of enforcement. It should be the government, but it is also an added cost for them."

"Initiating firms to give incentives is hard because the fact that there will be an added cost for the private sectors would make them think twice. They wouldn’t really say no, but of course it depends on their corporate decisions. It is also hard to say that they will participate. As firms, they want to maximize profits. Some private firms may agree if their main objective is to help the environment. There are firms who will also say no because it is an added cost for them, especially if it is not part of their objectives. For example, P&G and Unilever create plastics for their products. Their reputation for making plastic products can be deferred so they can introduce more environmentally friendly ways of using their products."

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The GREEN Model constitutes a cost-driven business model to minimize costs by offering low prices. This is because cost-based pricing depends on the transport and labor costs needed to be shouldered by the business. The following key expenses are indicated according to the fixed and variable costs.

Fixed costs of the business are rent expenses for the warehouse, labor wages of the messengers and other personnel, vehicle and equipment costs, and other fixed utilities.

Variable costs of the business are delivery and shipping charges and packaging supplies.

Hence, the most expensive resources would be truck vehicles to transport bulk volumes of plastic waste.

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The GREEN Model initiates sustainable plastic waste management practices that can provide numerous advantages to businesses and communities. The eco-social benefits of The GREEN Model are not only for the FMCGs and the large-scale plastic producers as our customers, but also for the general public and the society as a whole. Cost savings, improved environmental health, and higher standard of living are among the benefits. By implementing waste management practices, the society can save money, protect the environment, and generate economic and social benefits. Implementing sustainable waste management practices can help our communities and businesses become more resilient and sustainable in the future.

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Plastics are harmful to people, the environment, and the economy. Some social costs will inevitably result in compensation claims against the plastics industry (corporate liabilities), which may be presented to their insurers. Chemical additives used in plastics, many of which have well-established harmful links to human health, face a higher risk of prosecution. Even plastic polymer manufacturers are vulnerable to litigation because their products degrade into micro- and nano-plastic particles that endanger public health and the environment (Forrest, n.d.).

As stewards of the environment, we are responsible for caring for and preserving our ecosystem. In California, for every job created by recycling collection, eight jobs are created by manufacturing the recovered material into a new product. One ton of recycled plastic saves 5,774 kWh of energy, 16.3 barrels of oil, 98 million BTUs of energy, and 30 cubic yards of landfill space (Stanford University, n.d.). Hence, this motivated The GREEN Model solely to focus on plastic reduction and recycling.

Source:

Forrest (n.d.)

Major (n.d.)

Stanford University (n.d.)

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The goal of the company relies on the 4Rs as follows:

1. Reduce the burning, manufacturing, producing, and trading of plastics.

2. Refuse the consumption of plastics and optimize utilization creatively through upcycle and reuse.

3. Recover the environment by implementing proper waste management by less dumping and better resource allocation.

4. Rediscover community-based and locally empowered solutions, the inclusion of all stakeholders, and respect traditions while nurturing innovation.

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As a simplified service-type business model, the key resource we need is to invest in our human capital. Achieving our business goals requires human resources as a critical element. The central mission of The GREEN Model is to establish a long-lasting customer relationship with our target large-scale plastic producers and FMCG companies. We also need to build a long-lasting partnership with our innovative recycling firms to augment the services rendered to our clients. These relationships will only be possible through advanced negotiations of our human resources with the key stakeholders involved in the business model. Thus, highly-skilled customer-relationship and partner-relationship managers are needed by the business.

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The marketing distribution channel of The GREEN Model will be indirect because the venture acts as a distribution partner or intermediary between the recycling firms as the partner and both the FMCG firms and the large-scale plastic producers as the customers. With a single-tier distribution model, the recycling establishments have a direct relationship with The GREEN Model as the channel partner that negotiates with the FMCG firms and plastic producers on the other end.

Source:

Lutkevich (2022)

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The initial step of our business plan is to establish effective partnerships with our two chosen recycling firms in the Philippines:

The Plastic Flamingo

The Plastic Flamingo, or The Plaf, is a social enterprise focused in the Philippines that gathers and converts plastic waste into a variety of sustainable building materials. They accept the following types of plastics:

PET: Liquid or food containers, soda bottles, condiments bottles, and water bottles

HDPE: Shampoo bottles, cleaning product bottles, milk jugs, and bleach bottles

PVC: Broken hangers, pail, PVC tubes, plastic chairs and furnitures, plastic trays

LDPE: Online shopping plastics, clear firm plastics, and garbage bags

PP: Microwaveable containers, ice cream tubs, milk tea cups, bottle caps, egg trays, yogurt containers

PS: Plastic cups and utensils, straws, CD / DVD cases

Others: Water cooler bottles, multi-material packaging, eco-bricks

The Plastic Flamingo does not accept foam food containers, wine glass bottles, sanitary napkins, soda cans, and old computers or other gadgets.

Green Antz

Green Antz (GA) is a circular economy and innovation organization that creates and implements disruptive solutions to reduce the amount of waste generated and discarded. It accomplishes this by converting waste streams into construction materials, infrastructure, and agricultural solutions. GA began in 2013 intending to develop solutions for the most difficult-to-recycle and lowest-value waste, such as multi-layered plastics. GA processes nearly every type of plastic, as well as organic, inorganic, construction, industrial, and other waste.

Green Antz has formed a partnership with Nestle, Coca-Cola, Unilever, Ayala Corporation, Holcim, Starbucks, Royal Dutch Shell, McDonald’s, Colgate-Palmolive, etc. It accomplishes this by creating an ecosystem of multiple stakeholders who work together to provide sustainable waste solutions, social inclusion, and evolving-adapting technological solutions.

Source:

The Plastic Flamingo (2023)

Green Antz (2023)

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The partners will pay based on a fixed monthly subscription fee on the end of the FMCG firms and plastic producers and commissions on the end of the recycling facilities. The payments can be settled through credit and debit cards or bank transfers. Hence, subscription and commission fees would be The GREEN Model’s primary income source.

As mentioned, we are also considering the percentage of commissions we can get to maximize The GREEN Model revenue. The company prioritizes recycling facilities that offer The GREEN Model the highest commission. We will not charge our customers any convenience or service fees. Instead, we will seek commissions from innovative recycling facilities in order to sell their services to large-scale plastic producers and FMCG companies. According to the Environmental Management Bureau Central Material Recovery Facilities Report on the Price of Recyclables, plastic packaging waste costs PHP 10.00-13.00 per kilogram. We intend to negotiate a 40% commission per kilogram per client.

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Our Business Project as a Multi-sided Platform

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Our Business Project as a Multi-sided Platform

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The GREEN Model's flagship program, the Sachet ECOn Cycle, is a multi-sided platform that acts as a mediator between plastic producers and innovative recycling facilities.

Sachet ECOn Cycle targets the obliged enterprises in Metro Manila and large-scale fast-moving consumer goods firms that heavily utilize plastic food packaging. They are the chosen market since they are required by RA 11898 to conduct EPR activities as their contribution to lessening the plastic waste problems in the Philippines.

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The possible changes that can affect our market today and in the future are the following:

Political Change: Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Act of 2022 (RA 11898)

The changing of government leaders and alterations in the political system can influence the appeal of a particular local market. Governments see business organizations as a vehicle for social change. Our market will most likely be affected if the government revises, bans, or replaces existing Philippine laws, such as RA 11898. Other internal business adjustments will rely on government taxation and employment laws changes.

Economic Change: The Source of Revenue from Recycling Process

The most significant challenge of The GREEN Model is to make the project profitable while simultaneously being useful in the environment by collecting and recycling plastic waste.

Social Change: Participation of Either or Both Groups

The participation of FMCG firms and recycling facilities can affect the recycling process. For instance, recycling facilities can take longer to degrade plastics and turn them into something useful. On the other hand, FMCG firms may also stop participating in submitting plastic disposals.

Technological Change: Recycling Technology Competitors

Other waste management facility competitors may have better or more advanced technology to achieve a better plastic recycling process in terms of quantity and/or quality than the project, making plastic recycling faster and more efficient.

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Establishing partnerships with innovative recycling firms

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Establishing partnerships with innovative recycling firms

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The very first step of the business establishment is to create long-lasting partnerships with numerous plastic producer firms. In the negotiation, we need to know if: the firms have plastic waste collection trucks, the maximum carrying capacity of their recycling facility, the price they set per kilogram of plastic waste, and the commission rate we will get in looking for clients.

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To help solve the problem of plastic waste in the Philippines, The GREEN Model aims to create a social innovation that conforms to RA 11898 or the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) on Plastic Packaging Waste by targeting the participation of industrial firms in minimizing their plastic packaging wastes through recycling. Thus, the non-negotiable values of the Sachet ECOn Cycle are the following:

Stringency

RA 11898 guides the plastic producer firms in their plastic waste management by either recycling, reducing production or establishing waste collection facilities. With unavoidable penalties for non-compliance, firms must abide by the EPR Act. Thus, The GREEN Model advocates for the stringency of the law implementation to encourage the firms to faithfully comply with the law, and at the same time, help to improve the buffering capacity of the Earth to recover.

Accountability

The GREEN Model ensures the accountability of plastic waste producers in solving their plastic waste problems by providing them an avenue to help their EPR activities. By acting as a mediator between the plastic producers and recycling facilities, we guarantee that the EPR activities of obliged enterprises (OEs) of RA 11898 are accountable for managing their plastic wastes with low-cost, highly innovative, and profitable recycling practices.

Action-Oriented

The GREEN Model highlights the action-oriented value, for we acknowledge the immediate need of the firms to comply with the newly-implemented law and the need of the environment to recover from the long-overdue problem of plastic pollution. As one of the central values of The GREEN Model, action-orientedness ensures dedication to service and sustainability.

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Since the EPR Act indirectly requires obliged enterprises to declare their diverters-partner recycling facilities or partner mediators, we hope to target at least four (4) large-scale FMCG companies and at least two (2) plastic producers. We aim to get at least a 20% share of their total plastic waste to process in the Sachet ECOn Cycle business model.

We acknowledge that the firms we are targeting have means to directly connect with other recycling facilities to process their waste or to build their own facilities, but we offer a value of innovating their plastic waste as an aggregate input to strengthened construction materials. Our potential partner recycling firms, the Green Antz and The Plastic Flamingo have the corporate social responsibility of building low-cost homes to the marginalized communities, which our clients may be interested in participating in the said initiative.

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Connecting FMCG firms and Recycling Facilities

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Connecting FMCG firms and Recycling Facilities

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As economics students, our action plan is to enhance industry participation in recycling and minimizing plastic waste in the country. We aim to establish a third-party platform that would efficiently connect FMCG firms (Nestle, Unilever, Procter & Gamble, and Coca-Cola Beverages) and large-scale plastic producer firms (MK Slider Philippines Corporation) with recycling firms (The Plastic Flamingo, Green Antz).

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Poor Plastic Waste Management of the Philippines - FMCG Industry

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Poor Plastic Waste Management of the Philippines - FMCG Industry

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The Philippines is the third-largest contributor to global plastic waste, contributing about 0.75 million metric tons of ocean plastic yearly. Plastics are not only important to the Philippine economy (they contributed US$2.3 billion in 2018), but they also provide low-cost consumer goods to low- and middle-income families. However, the Philippines’ reliance on single-use plastics, such as multilayer sachets and pouches, has led to the country’s “sachet economy,” worsening the region’s alarming levels of marine plastic pollution. According to some estimates, the national population consumes 163 million sachets daily (World Bank, 2022). As students, the problem we want to address is for society to attain proper recycling habits with accountability and responsibility to last in a long-term process.

Source:

Guevarra (2019)

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We expect to generate Php 100,000 by the end of 2024 and will reinvest 50% of it to provide funds for community reinvestment. The investment is for improving the recycling facilities and local waste collection in the Philippines. There is a need to support local collection and recycling infrastructure to divert plastic waste from landfills, open burning, and the marine environment. Often, countries import plastic waste scrap because it is of higher quality while exporting recycled plastic to meet international demand. Emerging markets, such as the Philippines, are net exporters of plastic waste scrap due to a need for domestic recycling capacity. Therefore, this is where the public and private sectors can help.

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The GREEN Model proposes a solution for large-scale plastic producers and FMCG firms that need to comply with RA 11898 Extended Producer Responsibility on Plastic Packaging Waste. Through the flagship program of the company, the Sachet ECOn Cycle, we provide a convenient one-stop-shop solution by facilitating the EPR recycling activities of the obliged enterprises and reducing their EPR-related costs through our services. The GREEN Model connects the obliged enterprises to innovative recycling facilities where their plastic wastes are treated and transformed into innovative products with zero costs and potential profit.

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FMCG firms are currently engaging in plastic recycling methods. However, these associations are either insufficient or only last for a short period.

Nestle Philippines, Inc.

Nestle said it was committed to finding ways to keep plastics out of oceans through plastic collection and recycling programs. However, it added that sachets prevented leakage of micronutrients essential to addressing malnutrition, especially among children.

Unilever Philippines, Inc.

Unilever said it has a community-based sachet recovery program in the Philippines where collected sachets are converted to school chairs and cement pavers. It also pilot-ran shampoo and conditioner refilling stations this year, which it plans to scale up.

Procter and Gamble Philippines, Inc. (P&G)

P&G referred questions to the industry group Philippine Alliance for Recycling and Materials Sustainability (PARMS) or the government’s National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC).

Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines, Inc. (CCBPI)

The bottling arm of Coca-Cola in the country has signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the City of Manila to gather and recycle PET bottles in the metro. Under the MOA, clear PET plastic bottles—regardless of brand or manufacturer—deposited in contour bottle bins will be collected by Manila’s Department of Public Services and hauled by CCBPI to its PETValue recycling facility located in Gen. Trias, Cavite. This is the first project series lined up for the City of Manila.

Source:

Philstar (2021)

Lema (2019)

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MANILA (Reuters) - Armed with gloves, rubber boots and a rake, "Mangrove Warrior" Willer Gualva, 68, comes to Freedom Island in the Philippines almost every day to stop it being engulfed by trash.

No one lives on the island, yet each morning its shores are covered in garbage, much of it single-use sachets of shampoo, toothpaste, detergent and coffee that are carried out to sea by the rivers of overcrowded Manila.

"We collect mostly plastics here and the number one type are sachets," said Gualva, one of 17 people employed by the environment agency to help preserve the island and its forest. The agency, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), calls them "Mangrove Warriors", and pays them slightly above $8 per day.

Five days of coastal cleanup on the Manila Bay island last month yielded a total of 16,000 kg of trash, DENR data showed, the bulk of it plastics, including the sachets made of aluminum and blends of plastics.

These packets give some of the poorest people in Asia access to everyday household essentials. For the multinationals that manufacture them, it's a way to increase sales by targeting customers who cannot afford bigger quantities.

Such sachets are sold in most developing countries but the number consumed in the Philippines is staggering - 163 million pieces a day, according to a recent study by environment group The Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA).

That's almost 60 billion sachets a year, or enough to cover 130,000 soccer fields.

In Manila's slum areas which are inaccessible to garbage trucks, sachets and other waste are thrown in estuaries or dumped on the street, and end up clogging drains and waterways.

"Money is hard to come by, so I only buy sachets," said Lisa Jorillo, 42, a mother of four who lives in a slum in Manila's Tondo area, behind a beach blanketed by trash.

"It's likely the garbage will still be there when my son grows up," Jorillo said, referring to her four-year-old.

The Philippines' law on solid waste is poorly enforced and the country doesn't regulate packaging manufacturing. The country is ranked third in the world for failing to deal with its plastics, according to a 2015 study by the University of Georgia, which said 81 percent of plastics waste in the country was mismanaged.

GRAPHIC: When plastic is not fantastic -

SACHETS FOR THE POOR

About 14 million people live in Metro Manila, one of Asia's teeming mega-cities. Overall, the Philippines has a population of 107 million people, and one-fifth of them live below the national poverty line, described by the statistics agency as monthly consumption of less than $241 per person.

Jorillo's family earns about 2,500 pesos ($48) a week from the construction work that her husband does, and she and her family buy about 80 sachets of coffee, toothpaste and shampoo each month.

In sea-facing Manila, much of the trash ends up in the sea. The Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and China account for 60 percent of the world's marine plastic, or 8 million tonnes annually, according to the Ocean Conservancy non-profit.

Environmentalists say the main culprits aren't governments or consumers, but the multinationals that churn out plastic packaging.

"They have money to do research that will remove the problematic packaging," said Sonia Mendoza, head of the Mother Earth Foundation, which promotes waste reduction. She said refilling stations could be one way to reduce the use of single-use sachets.

The environmental group GAIA studied non-recyclable waste collected in Philippine cleanups and found that 60 percent of it came from just 10 companies, led by Nestle , Unilever and Procter & Gamble .

Nestle declined to disclose the volume of sachets it produced or sold in the Philippines.

FIGHTING MALNUTRITION

Nestle said it was committed to finding ways to keep plastics out of oceans through plastic collection and recycling programs, but added that sachets prevented leakage of micro-nutrients essential to addressing malnutrition, especially among children.

Unilever did not say how many sachets it produces in the Philippines, but said its global plastic packaging production is 610,000 tonnes annually.

The figure, Unilever said, includes "flexible packaging formats" used by 1 million micro-businesses in the Philippines. Nestle and Unilever's target is for 100% of their packaging to be recyclable or reusable by 2025 worldwide.

Unilever said it has a community-based sachet recovery program in the Philippines where collected sachets are converted to school chairs and cement pavers. It also pilot ran shampoo and conditioner refilling stations this year, which it plans to scale up.

P&G referred questions to the industry group Philippine Alliance for Recycling and Materials Sustainability (PARMS) or the government's National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC).

The Philippines government does not have a clear strategy to tackle its plastics crisis.

In an e-mail response to Reuters, the DENR said it was in discussions with all manufacturers to identify ways to manage waste. It provided no details.

Elsewhere in the region, Indonesia has a law requiring producers to manage non-biodegradable packaging and the tourist island of Bali bans single-use plastics.

Thailand is between now and 2025 introducing bans on seven types of plastics most commonly found in the ocean, like bottle cap seals, disposable bags, cups and straws.

Vietnam hopes to raise taxes on plastic bags and its prime minister has urged shops to stop using non-recyclable plastics in cities by 2021, and countrywide by 2025.

ECO-BRICKS

The Philippines industry group PARMS, which includes Unilever, P&G and Nestle among its members, is building a 25 million pesos ($475,000) facility that aims to turn sachets into plastic blocks and eco-bricks.

But Von Hernandez, global coordinator for the Break Free From Plastic movement, calls that "greenwashing" - or only trying to appear more environmentally friendly.

"They are not really changing the true nature of their business," Hernandez said of the multinationals. "The plastics industry is slated to grow exponentially, especially by 2030. The bulk of that is going to packaging and you can bet this is going to end up in sachets."

Crispian Lao, president of PARMS, said every effort, even those which "may be perceived as small and insignificant", helps address the problem.

Lao said sachets were a necessity for lower income groups, but added the industry is exploring other delivery formats and packaging alternatives.

Cynthia Villar, a senator, says she is pushing for a radical re-write of an existing waste law to force firms to collect, recycle and dispose of all single-use plastics they produce.

"They always say they're willing to do it. But it's a different story altogether whether they'll do it, so we have to embody it in a law so they'll all follow," Villar told Reuters.

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plastic containers & packaging (trbc level 5)

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disposal & recycling services (trbc level 5)

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Slave to sachets: How poverty worsens the plastics crisis in the Philippines

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MANILA (Reuters) - Armed with gloves, rubber boots and a rake, "Mangrove Warrior" Willer Gualva, 68, comes to Freedom Island in the Philippines almost every day to stop it being engulfed by trash.

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Get access to files anywhere through secure cloud storage and file backup for your photos, videos, files and more with Google Drive.

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Jepp V. Farrales, En.P.

Environmental Management Specialist

Solid Waste Management Division
Environmental Management Bureau
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)

jeppfarrales@gmail.com

"For uniformity, when I talk about large (obliged) enterprises, they must have a minimum of 100M worth of assets. Companies with less than 100M are not obliged to comply with the EPR acts. Going to your question, it promises that there will be good participation from the private sector. Based on the public sector, it doesn’t provide an additional burden of responsibility for the LGUs. The private industries will primarily shoulder the responsibility under RA 11898. The participation of the general public is under RA 9003."

"Expenses are deductible under taxable income/revenue. Tax incentives are just a way to mitigate the additional expenses for the industry in complying with the EPR act. Hopefully, it will motivate them to mitigate the burden from the private industry."

"The responsibility of the national government, particularly the DENR, is to hold the registration of the obliged enterprises and doesn’t have any specific responsibilities. There is elbow room on how they will implement the EPR programs as long as they meet the specific targets."

"Not all plastics are not EPRable. EPRable is the plastic packaging of the products. Most single-used plastics after consumption were thrown away due to the low or no economic value of these items, which explains why they are not being recycled. It is an opportunity for the obligated enterprises if private partnerships exist between the LGUs and the obligated enterprises."

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Many businesses are under constant stress as a result of increasing expenditures. Shipping cost reduction is an often overlooked method of combating skyrocketing fuel costs and other extra charges. Finding a way to reduce shipping expenses can significantly impact the firm's overall balance sheet. Shipping companies must develop key strategies and technologies for the supply chains. Such shipping strategies can only lead to direct cost reduction and efficiency enhancement. (Zhu, 2018).

Therefore, The GREEN Model plans to control its costs by minimizing operating costs. Since the business scope is only within Metro Manila, one truck vehicle is designated to pick up the waste in two nearby municipalities. Once collected from the FMCGs and plastic producer firms, the plastic waste will be headed to the warehouse and will be shipped to the recycling facilities on a different day. Thus, the delivery schedule of the plastic waste to the recycling firms will be on Tuesdays and Fridays only. This reduces transport and fuel costs since plastic wastes aren't urgent to deliver.

Source:

Partner Ship

Zhu (2018)

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Saving money is one of the primary advantages of sustainable waste management. Reducing waste and reusing or recycling materials both provide cost-saving opportunities. Businesses, for example, can save money by reducing the amount of packaging they use and recycling materials such as cardboard and plastic. Furthermore, businesses can save money on maintenance and operating costs by using fewer resources, such as energy and water.

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The GREEN Model is an intermediary between these liable companies and recycling facilities to minimize plastic waste. Our resources will be communication for transactions, while the key activities utilizing these resources are either in our consumers or recycling partners.

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Customers today interact with brands through various platforms, so it makes sense to provide them with multiple ways to be loyal to them. Customers can be reached via email, SMS, landline, social media like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, and a mobile app.

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The GREEN Model will develop a website and application to ease and expedite stakeholder transactions and communications. A consolidated marketing strategy can help expand business operations, partnerships, and customer networks.

To improve the relationship with existing customers

Digital marketing allows The GREEN Model to deal with its customers in all touchpoints. The intermediary can improve the process of collecting, transporting, and dropping off plastic waste by dealing with its partners online through its website or application. Thus, it is a way for the company to ensure its quick response and action to keep the active participation between partners, address concerns, and complete transactions promptly.

To gain an extensive audience and new customers

Impressive digital marketing techniques can help the company become a reference in the industry because it will earn a good website and social media presence. The existing customers could refer the company to other large-scale FMCG firms and plastic producers that could bind more partnerships with The GREEN Model. The company can utilize ads, publications, and blogs to notify wider audiences.

To increase the company’s brand awareness

If The GREEN Company has been influential online, it can improve its brand awareness, making the brand known and familiar in the online environment that could potentially excel its current competitors and

gain inquiries, number of transactions, and partnerships.

To increase the company’s profitability

Investing in digital marketing and advertising can lead the company to boost sales and profitability due to its vast audience reach and acquire alliances from other FMCG companies, plastic producers, and recycling facilities in the Philippines.

Source:

Felicio (2021)

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The GREEN Model will target the following four FMCG firms as our customers, which will be linked with recycling firms later.

Nestle Philippines, Inc. (NPI)

Nestlé Philippines, Inc. is a robust and stable organization proud of its role in bringing the best food and beverage throughout the stages of Filipino consumers' lives, more than a century after it first began operations in the country. As a Good Food, Good Life organization, it believes in the power of food to improve people's lives. Good food both nourishes and pleases the senses. It promotes healthy growth in children, the well-being of pets, the graceful aging of parents, and the enjoyment of life in general, respects the environment, and conserves resources for future generations.

Nestlé constantly explores and pushes the boundaries of what foods, beverages, and nutritional health solutions can do to improve quality of life and contribute to a healthier future. We direct our efforts and resources to areas where harnessing the power of food can make the most significant difference in the lives of people and pets, protect and improve the environment, and generate significant value for our shareholders and stakeholders.

Unilever Philippines, Inc. (UPI)

Unilever Philippines, Inc. manufactures laundry detergents and soaps, shampoos and hair conditioners, toothpaste, deodorants, skin care products, household cleaners, and toilet soaps, thus achieving annual sales of more than 40 billion pesos with over 1,000 employees nationwide.

Unilever's founders revolutionized hygiene by employing locals to produce low-cost packaged soap since the inception of one of our first brands, Sunlight soap, when poverty and poor sanitation tormented early societies. This set a precedent for a purpose-driven business that has spanned generations, ensuring accessibility while providing livelihood.

Procter and Gamble Philippines, Inc. (P&G)

Procter and Gamble Philippines, Inc. produces superior products usable in living rooms, kitchens, laundry rooms, and bathrooms, passed down from generation to generation as trusted by millions of households. Founded over 180 years ago as a simple soap and candle company, it dedicated its products to improving people's lives in small but meaningful ways daily.

The company holds more than 65 individual brands across ten categories: Fabric Care, Home Care, Baby Care, Feminine Care, Family Care, Grooming, Oral Care, Personal Health Care, Hair Care, and Skin Care. It strives to provide a superior employee value equation like they strive to provide a superior consumer experience.

Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines, Inc. (CCBPI)

Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines, Inc. is a global corporation that operates on a local level in each community where they do business. Because of the strength of the Coca-Cola system, which includes the company and nearly 250 bottling partners worldwide, they created global reach with a local focus in the Philippines. The products are primarily distributed through Coca-Cola, which manufactures and sells concentrates, beverage bases, and syrups to bottling operations. Coca-Cola also owns the brands and is in charge of consumer brand marketing. Its bottling partners produce, package, merchandise, and distribute finished branded beverages to our customers and vending partners, who then sell them to consumers.

All bottling partners collaborate closely with customers in grocery stores, restaurants, street vendors, convenience stores, movie theaters, and amusement parks to implement localized strategies developed in collaboration with our establishment.

Source:

Nestle (2023)

Unilever (2023)

P&G (2023), P&G Careers (2023)

Coca-Cola Company (2023)

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Establishing partnerships with large-scale plastic producers and FMCG firms

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Establishing partnerships with large-scale plastic producers and FMCG firms

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After knowing the partners' capacity, price, and service inclusions, we will look for our target clients and hopefully build a partnership with them. We will show them the roster of our partner recycling firms, their offering, and their value-added CSR activities. We are also to determine the amount of plastic waste the firms can give us daily or monthly.

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In the business model of The GREEN Model's Sachet ECon Cycle, we are a purely service-based business, and we aim to target zero cost in our transactions. We can account for minimal labor, transportation, internet, phone, and electricity costs that form part of the communications and logistics costs. But, we aim for immaterial costs for the specified communications and logistics costs.

The revenue model of the Sachet ECOn Cycle is solely commission-based. We will not charge our customers convenience and service fees. Instead, we will seek commissions from innovative recycling facilities to sell their services to large-scale plastic producers and FMCG companies. As per the Environmental Management Bureau Central Material Recovery Facilities Report on the Price of Recyclables, plastic packaging wastes costs PHP 10.00-13.00 per kilogram. We aim to negotiate at least 40% commission per kilogram per client.

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Gary Mendoza

Founder and CEO, PeopleDev International Corporation

Chemical Engineer and Practical Economist

https://au.linkedin.com/in/gary-mendoza

"The project of recycling wastes can be extensive and challenging, but it remains interesting and relevant in the case of the Philippines. Since the venture focuses on transporting the plastic waste, it would be best to start at a small scale before expanding. For example, the initial business initially functions as a logistics facility, without the need to problematize the recycling method of the plastics itself."

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Economies of scale are cost advantages the business reaps when production becomes more efficient by increasing its delivery transactions accompanied by lowering costs. The delivery costs vary on the weight and volume of the plastic waste package that FMCG firms and plastic producers will transport to the recycling firms by means of The GREEN Model delivery service. Increased plastic waste shipment lowers the costs with the help of The GREEN Model’s effective key strategic supply chains.

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A critical goal of plastic waste management is to reduce pollution and dangerous chemicals. Reusing materials can reduce the need for new resources, thereby protecting the environment from the effects of resource extraction. Sustainable plastic waste management can also improve air and water quality, benefiting the health of communities.

This includes the potential to improve public health and safety. Reducing the number of toxic chemicals in the environment can help reduce the likelihood of health problems. Furthermore, reducing the amount of waste produced can help to lessen pests and disease-carrying organisms. It reduces greenhouse gas emissions contributing to climate change, which was the initial challenge this business venture aims to resolve at the end of the road.

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The GREEN Model accommodates private and public plastic collection through the collection and drop-off points within Metro Manila. FMCG and plastic producer branches located in provincial areas can deliver their plastic wastes to the warehouse of The GREEN Model in Pasay City, Metro Manila.

A collection point is a collaboration for the customer companies that prefer to collect their plastic wastes privately, thus within their entity. The GREEN Model can pick up the plastic wastes from the FMCG and plastic producers’ specific branches by booking a pick-up schedule on The GREEN Model website or application.

A drop-off point is a collaboration between the FMCG and the plastic producer companies that want to collect their plastic waste publicly. Our platform will be updated with new information according to the public areas where the FMCG firms may drop off their plastic waste.

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The Large-Scale Plastic Producers as Our Customers

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The Large-Scale Plastic Producers as Our Customers

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MK Slider Philippines Corporation

MK Slider Philippines Corporation distributes and manufactures General Packaging Products in the thriving and industrialized province of Cavite. It serves the diverse needs of many local and multinational companies in electronics, semiconductors, food, medical, pharmaceutical, and other related industries. With 1,300 product developments, 4,000 products, 30 suppliers, and over 200 customers, MK Slider is a well-known manufacturer of polyethylene & bubble plastic products and corrugated boxes in the country.

Polyethylene is the most widely used plastic on the planet. This polymer is used to make grocery bags, shampoo bottles, children's toys, and even bulletproof vests. It has a very simple structure for such a versatile material, the simplest of all commercial polymers.

Cardboard boxes are industrially prefabricated boxes that are used for packaging. Specialists in packaging goods and materials that can also be recycled. Because cardboard does not denote a specific material, it is rarely used in the industry. Cardboard may refer to heavy paper-like materials, such as card stock, corrugated fiberboard, or paperboard, which may vary depending on the locale, contents, construction, and personal preference.

Source:

MK Slider Philippines Corporation (2023)

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Since we now have the roster of partners and clients, we will study the carrying capacity of the partner recycling facilities, their price, and our commission. We will also consider the amount of waste the firms committed daily. By looking at the clients' recycling demands, we are to prepare a plan that includes the recycling facilities that will handle their waste. Since we expect that the firms will have an excessive amount of waste committed, there will be more than one recycling facility to connect per firm. We ensure that the plan will give them the best outcome through the profit they receive from their plastic waste deposits and the value-added participation in the recycling firms' CSR activities. In conducting an optimality assessment through mix and match, we are also considering the percentage of commissions we can get to maximize The GREEN Model revenue. The company prioritizes recycling facilities that offer the best commission to The GREEN Model.

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Sachet ECOn Cycle was formed due to its founders' advocacy of better environmental quality. Thus, this project aims to extend our impact to the following beneficiaries:

On Society

Reduced plastic waste increases environmental quality. As a result, society will experience less threat to their health brought by plastic pollution. Additionally, there will be better environmental conditions that improve the quality of life in the community. Lastly, the success of Sachet ECOn Cycle has indirect benefits to the community as they will have an idea that they can profit from their plastic waste by depositing in innovative recycling firms, thereby increasing public participation in reduced plastic waste in the Philippines.

On Planet

As climate change targeting is the main advocacy of The GREEN Model, we hope that the planet benefits from our initiative, the Sachet ECOn Cycle. Through our business, we expect that there will be less plastic waste suspended in the soil and water. We also hope that plastic pollution will reach its minimum concentration in the Philippines. Lastly, we strengthen the buffering capacity of the Earth by lessening plastic waste pollution problems to cope with climate change.

On the Economy of the Business

The customers of The GREEN Model benefit from Sachet ECOn Cycle through reduced EPR activities-related costs, thereby maintaining their revenue. Additionally, they can earn from whatever amount of plastic waste they deposit at a rate of PHP 10.00-13.00 per kilogram, again increasing their relative other income. Additionally, it increases their level of compliance and participation with the environmental laws governing their production, distribution, collection, and recycling activities.

Our partner innovative recycling firms will also benefit from our initiative through the volume of collected plastic waste as an aggregate input to their construction-related products. Their market selling point is that with plastic aggregates in their concretes, the tensile strength, durability, fire absorptive, and water solubility quality will improve. Sourcing high-quality plastic waste will benefit the production of concretes and other related products. Thus, with their ability to mass produce innovative concretes, given the volume of plastic waste they can get from Sachet ECOn Cycle, their revenue will increase.

However, as a startup, we expect that during the first few periods of the establishment, there will be low feedback from plastic producers and FMCG companies. We assume that they have already listed their diverters in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and offering our services to them may be late at this moment. Thus, we will try to convince them of our value and the benefits that they can get, and we hope that we can cater to their plastic waste with even just several percent of their total plastic waste.

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Ron Castro
Managing Editor, The Independent Investor
Senior Management Consultant, Various Companies
Chief Revenue Officer, JuanTax
linkedin.com/in/roncastro0910

"FMCGs are not competent in recycling activities. You need to find a gap in their operation and recycling activities and target the gap. Find your place as you share the advocacy. This is where your company becomes profitable. It is sustainable. FMCGs work with groups for recycling, that's how you can get things done. This is a very good business idea. You provide an innovative way for recycling. You don't have to be the innovator, you can just do the mediation. That's a good idea"

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The project overall benefits society. These effects include increased civic pride, a better quality of life, and more equitable resource distribution. Finally, more efficient resources and lessened pollution can lead to more convenient commodity distribution available for everyone, thus reducing poverty and increasing the happiness and satisfaction of the people.

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The post-purchase experience demonstrates appreciation and gratitude to the customers who engaged in the business venture. For The GREEN Model, those FMCG firms and plastic producers that actively participated in plastic recycling waste management with the business will be part of the loyalty program. Loyalty programs work to increase partners and sales to remain competitive in the market. This includes earning points based on silver, gold, and platinum stages.

Silver
Partner companies transporting plastic waste with The GREEN Model 3x a month earn the silver loyalty program. Each pick-up delivery made by the partner company earns 10 points. Fifty points earned can be converted to a free ten-day extension of the subscribed month.

Gold
Partner companies transporting plastic waste with The GREEN Model 5x a month earn the gold loyalty program. Each pick-up delivery made by the partner company earns 10 points. Fifty points earned can be converted to a free fifteen-day extension of the subscribed month.

Platinum
Partner companies transporting plastic waste with The GREEN Model 7x a month earn the platinum loyalty program. Each pick-up delivery made by the partner company earns 10 points. Fifty points earned can be converted to a free twenty-day extension of the subscribed month.

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Depending on the agreement, the innovative recycling facilities may collect the waste, or the clients may deliver their plastic waste to the innovative recycling facilities. The GREEN Model facilitates this transaction. The GREEN Model resolves problems should they arise in the collection of plastic waste.

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With rigorous dedication and the ability to penetrate the market, the Sachet ECOn Cycle may encounter the problem of limited innovative recycling facilities to cater to the needs of the large-scale plastic producer and FMCG firms. Since they are large-scale, we expect that even a percentage of their total plastic waste is in a material kilogram amount, and a single innovative recycling firm may not be able to cater to them all. Thus, to address these negative effects, The GREEN Model will try to look for at least fifty (50) large, medium, and small-scale recycling firms to cater to the needs of our customers. We will also inform the clients as to the carrying capacity of the innovative recycling firms.

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The GREEN Model aims to inform the clients about what happened to their plastic waste collected by the innovative recycling facilities. Reports on the end-line of their plastic waste are necessary documentation in their EPR Activities Report. We will also inform them of their involvement in the CSR activities of their chosen roster of recycling facilities.