First posted 07:06pm (Mla time) Dec 06, 2004
By Linda Bolido
Inquirer News Service

Editor's Note: Published on page D3 of the December 7, 2004 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

THE PACKAGE that holds your milk or juice or tomato sauce is now also a table, a chair, a tray and even a key holder.

Pretty soon it may even be a wall or a door or a cabinet in some modest home. In fact, a few Latin American houses have already started substituting boards made from the recycled packages for plywood.

Without fanfare, Tetra Pak, the multinational company that introduced the revolutionary lightweight and easy-to-handle cartons now used to package a broad range of products, has started a recycling program in the Philippines that links up students, consumers, the handicapped and streetchildren while making the environment just a little less cluttered.

The initiative draws on technology and experience from other countries. "Care and Share," Tetra Pak's recycling program, has two components. A collection/retrieval campaign, now involving 50 private schools, represents the "Care" part. Students in the institutions are being taught to care for the environment by recycling Tetra Pak packages.

The campaign was launched in 2002 with eight schools participating. Special bins have been installed in schools where faculty and students can put the cartons.

A still little-known effort to get consumers involved in the campaign has started in the Makati commercial center with collection bins installed in a couple of supermarkets.

The other aspect of the program, Share with the Less Fortunate, has provided jobs to former streetchildren, who became wards of the Tuloy sa Don Bosco shelter set up by Fr. Rocky Evangelista. The program has also provided new money-earning opportunities for the disabled workers at the Tahanang Walang Hagdanan Inc., who are now turning the boards made from Tetra Pak packages into items like picture frames, organizers and small furniture. The items have added to the list of products the institution sells to help sustain its operations.

Tetra Pak's partner in breathing new life into discarded packages--and in providing gainful employment to the streetchildren--is the Trans-National Paper Corporation. The company started as a publishing concern before going into the paper recycling business.

Using technology developed in Germany, the company bought a machine from India that had now been installed in its manufacturing plant in Tanza, Cavite.

Lorenzo P. Ligot of the Tanza plant said, when they agreed to team up with Tetra Pak in the campaign, all they asked was assurance that they would have enough materials to work with and they would get help in marketing the product.

Simple technology

The company, which has eight Tuloy wards working in the Tanza plant at the moment, easily accommodated the recycling of used Tetra Pak cartons without a lot of retraining involved. The process begins with the shredding of the packages. Shredded pieces are soaked in water then placed in a mold the size of a full-length board before passing through the machine that basically just dries it.

Ligot said boards from the packages contained exactly the same elements that the original cartons had. No chemicals were added in the process, making it safe for both workers in the plant and the end user. What binds the shreds together was the plastic that was already one of the components of the original package. When heated, the plastic melts and spreads, binding the other components.

At the Tanza plant, the company has made boards in the standard width and length of plywood--four by eight feet--and with different thickness, too: 4 mm, 6 mm, 12 mm and 18 mm.

Ligot said the Habitat for Humanity had used the boards for the doors of some of the low-cost houses it was building. The company, of course, would like to see the board used in more construction projects.

Ligot said the material was "cheaper than plywood, would not warp and was resistant to termites." Painting is also optional as the board retains the colors of the packages used and, in fact, comes out with unintended patterns. The board would also be a good substitute for wallpaper, Ligot added, because it was very flat when installed, eliminating the problem of bumps.

Challenge

In fact, the flatness has become a challenge to Tahanan. A customer, who has seen its bar stool and table, wants a set but with the backrest more rounded. Joy Cevallos-Garcia, Tahanan's chief executive officer, hoped one of Tetra Pak's offices abroad had already come up with the technology to make that happen.

Tahanan workers had so far turned the boards into picture frames, trays, key chains, desk organizers and clocks, pen holders, magazine racks, tables and chairs. Garcia said she was drawn to the Tetra Pak initiative because "it helped clean the environment." Already working with metal and wood, the institution merely combined the recycled product with their raw materials.

Products made from the boards are sold not just at the Tahanan gift shop but also in its own monthly bazaars and other events where it participates.

Tahanan also helps spread the good word about Tetra Pak carton recycling. Visitors can get a P50 souvenir kit at the gift shop that includes a mirror whose frame is made of recycled carton board.

Aside from its collection, campaign, Marily C. Gutierrez, communications and environment manager, said the company also organized puppet shows in schools to spread the recycling message of recycling in an entertaining way. "We also have videos on environment/recycling... [and will be distributing] a teacher's guide...," she said.

The company is a consistent supporter of the Museo Pambata, and has a Tetra Pak Craft Room at the museum. For several years now, it has co-sponsored with the museum children's art contests using Tetra Pak packages.

Aside from the Philippines, Tetra Pak has recycling programs in Germany (paper and boards that are made into furniture), Chile (boards), Thailand (paper and boards), India (boards), Pakistan (boards), China (boards), and Italy (paper).

Tetra Pak (Philippines) Inc. is at 7/F, Net One Center, Fort Bonifacio Global City, Taguig 1634, Metro Manila. Call 8181306, telefax 8181072.

Trans-National Paper Corporation is at Rm. 301-302 Jollibee Center Building, San Miguel Ave., Pasig City. Call 6334213, fax 6336789/90.

Tahanang Walang Hagdanan Inc. is at 175 Aida St., Marick Subdivision, Cainta, Rizal. Call 6550055, 6550059, 2482698, or fax 6550812.

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