Shell companies in the Philippines ‘engage for change’

MANILA, Philippines — The world is evolving and so is Shell in the Philippines.

While it has been offering its customers more than just high-quality products and services, Shell, in recent years, has also been shifting its emphasis and efforts toward creating a circular economy, which promotes the concepts of sharing resources.

Toward this end, Shell has unveiled its sustainability blueprint to meet the energy challenge and embrace opportunities in decades to come.

For one, it supports the need for improved circularity of the global plastics markets – encouraging reduce, reuse and recycle where possible, to mitigate the release of plastic into the environment.

For Shell, sustainability means aiming to provide more and cleaner energy solutions in a responsible manner – in a way that balances short- and long-term interests, and integrates economic, environmental and social considerations.

There are a number of initiatives being implemented by Shell as part of its efforts to help develop a circular economy in the Philippines.

These initiatives include:

1) Bokashi food compositing

Bokashi refers to a system of food composting that pickles food waste to turn it into nutritious liquid compost.

Shell’s Business Operations Manila launched its onsite Bokashi food composting last 2020, in partnership with Greenspace.

The project aims to cut 10.54 percent of waste that goes to landfill and adds up to the greenhouse gases in our atmosphere.

2) Waste to ecobrick

Through the so-called Thermal Oxidation process, Shell’s residual waste is upcycled into ecobricks.

Shell said it partnered with Green Antz Builders, an innovative provider of building and housing solutions in the Philippines, on how to utilize waste into ecobricks.

In fact, Shell has already built its first service station with a commercial building using ecobricks.

These alternatives to traditional bricks are made from upcycled plastic waste that includes lubricant bottles and car oil bottles, Shell said.

“Located in Plaridel, Bulacan, the service station has the distinction of being not only the first commercial building in the country to be made entirely from ecobricks, it is also the first in Shell’s global network of mobility stations,” Shell said.

A total of 26,512 eco-bricks were used in the construction of the service station.

These were made from 1,200 kilograms of upcycled plastic waste, equivalent to 80,000 lubricant bottles.

3) Shell Lube Recycle

Another sustainability project is Shell Lube Recycle by Shell Lubricants Philippines, which aims to promote a circular economy through responsible waste management.

As part of the project, customers are encouraged to drop off their used lubricant bottles and pails as well as other plastics into designated bins located in strategic collection sites with partner auto workshops and car dealers.

The plastic waste collected will be recycled into other useful materials.

4) Beneficial spaces

Last February, Shell Real Estate converted areas in Tabangao Residential in Batangas into beneficial spaces which not only supports the environment but also the wellbeing of staff and contractors.

Some areas were planted with vegetables including pechay and mustasa.

In all, Shell said it is using its global technology expertise to address customer and stakeholder needs.