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Mondelez Philippines’ Joy Schools will be collecting plastic waste with partners First Balfour and the Philippine Business for Social Progress and turn them into play areas for the Company’s three adopted public elementary schools. Leading the launch were (L-R) Anchel Cruz, HR Senior Supervisor of First Balfour; Ashish Pisharodi, Country Director of Mondelez Philippines; Assistant Principal Dr. Flora Baggayan of Camp Claudio Elementary School; and Boi Mojica, Assistant Department Head of the City Environment and Natural Resources in Paranaque City, where two of the schools are located.
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Manila, Philippines – February 2019. Mondelez Philippines has launched a program to help turn plastic packaging waste into play areas for its adopted Joy Schools. This project is in support of the Company’s global 2025 commitment to make all packaging recyclable, provide recycling information, and support public-private partnerships to help reduce waste and improve recycling.
Plastic waste and its impact on the planet is a broad, systemic issue that a lot of people care deeply about, and which requires a holistic response. As a company which aims to empower people to snack right, Mondelez Philippines wants to help minimize plastic waste as part of a global long-term vision for zero-net waste packaging.
The company believes that one of the approaches to help address the issue of plastic waste is to make it easier for consumers to recycle packaging and supporting industry coalitions to improve recycling rates.
Locally, one of the company’s programs to help address this issue is the Joy Schools Plastic Play Areas project. The Joy Schools is Mondelez Philippines’ signature community program across South East Asia which aims to empower children to take positive steps towards their overall well-being. The Joy Schools currently provides a daily 9-month feeding for 300 undernourished students in the Country to help improve their nutrition and increase energy for school.
In the same way that the Joy Schools provides nutrition programs for children’s well-being, the program has now expanded to recycling to help empower students to care for the planet’s well-being in turn. Working with partners the Philippine Business for Social Progress and First Balfour, Mondelez Philippines will engage the Joy Schools in collecting ecobricks – or plastic 1.5 or 1.75-liter bottles which are stuffed with plastic packaging waste. The partners’ own employees are also engaged to collect ecobricks for this project. The target is to collect 400 ecobricks which are equivalent to some 400 kilos of plastic waste.
Once collected, these ecobricks will be turned into play areas for three Joy Schools in Metro Manila, located in Parañaque and Quezon City. The play areas will be constructed by First Balfour, leveraging on their expertise as a construction company which aims to help build and uplift the quality of life of Filipinos. In this way the students of the Joy Schools can learn about the importance of environmental protection, recycling, and have more opportunities to be active while enjoying their new play areas.
“We are excited about the launch of the Joy Schools Plastic Play Areas project,” shares Mondelez Philippines Country Director Ashish Pisharodi. “Over the past years we have done similar projects to help promote the importance of recycling, including sharing of recycled plastic chairs with schools through our brand, Tang. With this new initiative, we will be able to support two things we value as a Company: The well-being of our community and care for the planet. It is critical that our actions today involve children, who will inherit the future. We must all work together to ensure the well-being of the planet which we will leave behind to them.”
First Balfour HR Head Carlos Pedro Salonga explains that anyone can recycle and create their own ecobricks. It only takes three steps: Dry, Cut and Stuff. First, collect dry and empty plastic packaging. Then cut them up into small pieces. Lastly, stuff them tightly inside the similarly clean and empty plastic bottles. Make sure they do not bend and weigh about 1 kilo each. These can then be used as building blocks for many projects. “To date we have built wash areas, benches and buildings using ecobricks,” Salonga adds. “We are similarly excited to see our first recycled play areas come to life with Mondelez Philippines.”
The Joy Schools program was created by Mondelez Philippines in 2011. It has since adopted 16 public elementary schools nationwide and has been implemented by the Company in its locations in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam. In the Philippines, it has three currently adopted local schools namely Camp Claudio Elementary School and Rogelio Gatchalian Elementary School in Parañaque and Holy Spirit Elementary School in Quezon City.
This play area will be constructed in the adopted Joy Schools of Mondelez Philippines. Designed by partner First Balfour, the structure will be utilizing ecobricks or recycled plastic bottles stuffed with plastic waste.
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About Mondelēz International
Mondelēz International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MDLZ) empowers people to snack right in approximately 160 countries around the world. With 2017 net revenues of approximately $26 billion, MDLZ is leading the future of snacking with iconic global and local brands such as Oreo, belVita and LU biscuits; Cadbury Dairy Milk, Milkaand Toblerone chocolate; Sour Patch Kids candy and Trident gum. Mondelēz International is a proud member of the Standard and Poor’s 500, Nasdaq 100 and Dow Jones Sustainability Index. Visit www.mondelezinternational.com or follow the company on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MDLZ.
About Mondelez Philippines, Inc.
Mondelez Philippines Inc. has been providing consumers with delicious snack products for the past 56 years – since 1963. Its product portfolio includes Tang powdered beverages, Eden cheese, mayonnaise and sandwich spread, Cheez Whizspread, Oreo cookies, Tiger energy biscuits, belVita breakfast biscuits, as well as Toblerone and Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolates. The company employs about 450 people in the Philippines, with a manufacturing facility in Parañaque City.
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