Veco turns scrap into school furniture

CEBU, Philippines - In importing electrical equipment, Visayan Electric Company (VECO) has to deal with tons of wooden crates.

Community Relations Manager Eric Ching saw the pile of scrap wood at the garbage area and came up with the idea to save these instead of letting them rot and be thrown away.

He thought the scrap would be put to better use by turning them into tables and chairs and other furniture pieces that are useful in schools.

This is now one of VECO’s projects to support the community.

The finished products will be donated to schools through VECO’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) program.

Ching had the scrap wood taken to a furniture shop for treatment before they were made into furniture pieces. These were then sanded and varnished for a quality-finish.

The children of Barangay Ermita will be the first to enjoy these furniture pieces, which will be given to its new day care and health center.

VECO is probably the first power distribution utility to make sustainable furniture out of scrap wood in the Philippines.

Meanwhile, the Cebu Province will hand over more than 1,000 chairs to different public schools in Cebu.

This is after Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia approved the request of school principals, municipality, and barangay officials through Department of Education Provincial School Superintendent Arden Monisit. — (FREEMAN)