Page 33 - Plastics News July 2024

ENVIRONMENT NEWS

From trash to cash: Gokongwei's

URC forms waste management JV to

address plastic pollution

Universal Robina Corporation (URC), under the ble products. The joint venture company (JVCo) is
Gokongwei family, has taken a significant step to- set to commence operations by September 2024,
wards environmental stewardship through a part- pending the required governmental approvals and
nership with Greencycle Innovative Solutions Inc. permits. This initiative supports URC's efforts to
With a P27 million initial investment, this alliance comply with the Extended Producer Responsibility
seeks to create a complete waste management sys- Act of 2022, which mandates producers to manage
tem with a reduction in plastic trash. the lifecycle of their products, including post-con-
sumer waste.
URC's goal is to mitigate plastic waste by collecting,
treating, and processing it into reusable or recycla- Source: - Bilyonaryo

International plastics treaty: 133 civil society

groups demand greater transparency in

appointment of technical experts

Ahead of the upcoming Intergovernmental Negoti- The INC meeting will take place in Bangkok, Thai-
ating Committee (INC) meeting in August to final- land, in August, with more than 170 countries pre-
ize the rules for the international plastics treaty, 133 paring to attend. The civil society organizations con-
civil society groups have raised concerns about the tend that restricting participation to government
transparency of appointing technical experts. The delegates impedes the intellectual interchange
organizations are especially concerned about limita- necessary for a treaty to be successful. This call for
tions on the involvement of observers and the lack transparency and inclusion comes as the fifth and
of transparency in the selection of technical experts. final round of negotiations is scheduled for Busan,
South Korea, highlighting the urgency of creating
They have demanded that these experts be free an effective Global Plastics Treaty to address the
from conflicts of interest and called for an open ap- plastic pollution crisis.
plication process that allows accredited observer or-
ganizations to register at least one representative. Penchom Saetang from Ecological Alert and Recov-
ery-Thailand (EARTH) and Cecilia Bianco from the
Latin American and Caribbean Network for the Re-
duction of Plastic Production stress the importance
of inclusive discussions, particularly on issues like fi-
nancing, plastic products, and chemicals of concern.

Source: - DownToEarth

July 2024 PLASTICS NEWS 33