URC sets up waste management arm

Gokongwei-led Universal Robina Corp. (URC) is forming a joint venture company with a waste management firm to set up projects addressing plastic waste produced by the food and beverage giant.

In a stock exchange filing on Tuesday, URC said its board of directors had approved the incorporation of its planned joint venture with Greencycle Innovative Solutions Inc.

URC, the maker of the bottled C2 iced tea and Vcut chips, added that the venture may start operations in September, pending regulatory approval.

According to URC, the joint venture has an initial paid-in capital, or money initially invested by shareholders, of P27 million.

URC will own 75 percent of the company, while Greencycle will hold the remaining 25 percent.

Among the functions of the joint venture, which has yet to be named, are the collection, treatment, recovery and processing of plastic waste to convert these into “reusable or recyclable products.”

Based in Quezon City, Greencycle focuses on waste management, recycling and other activities that help companies divert waste products.

Under Republic Act No. 11898, or the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Act, large corporations such as URC need to establish programs aimed at reducing plastic waste.

The law notes that the programs need to address reduction in plastic packaging, recyclability and reusability of packaging as well as efficient collection and recycling of plastic waste.

Global environment organization Break Free From Plastic last year identified JG Summit Holdings Inc., the parent firm of URC, as among the top plastic waste producers in Asia.

For its part, URC said the new joint venture company would “form part of the strategies by [URC] to comply with its obligations” under the EPR law.

In 2022, the company launched a “plastic neutrality” program, through which URC collects plastic wastes for recycling.

The company opened plastic collection sites in Batangas, Negros Occidental and several malls owned by affiliate Robinsons Land Corp. to encourage recycling in communities.

URC’s 2023 sustainability report showed that it collected more than 14.9 metric tons (MT) of plastic waste in communities, while 50.30 MT were collected at malls. —WITH ERICA ANN C. VILLASORDA