PRECIP 
NEWSLETTER 

December 2009
No. 407

As a cement company and a major player in the manufacturing industry, Holcim Philippines gauges its performance by balancing business operations with environmental conservation. The company advocates energy-efficient use of building materials, housing and infrastructure. Holcim Philippines chief operating officer, Ian Thackwray, in businessmirror.com, said the company works actively with local government units (LGUs) and industrial companies in promoting solid waste management to ensure refuse is put into productive and environment-friendly use in their cement manufacturing processes.

Thackwray explained that Holcim’s co-processing technology makes use of nonrecyclable and nonbiodegradable municipal wastes such as plastics which usually end up in dumpsites. These can pose health and environmental hazards in many rivers and waterways. He explained that co-processing waste materials has been implemented successfully in the U.S. and several European countries, and that Holcin has developed the capability and know-how to replicate this in the Philippines.

The firm has also invested in equipment to monitor emissions and keep the air clean. Its cement plants are equipped with continuous emission monitoring systems. It also maintains baghouse filters and ESPs in all of its plants. 

Back to PRECIP Newsletter No. 407 Table of Contents