CMA CGM and the Plastic Flamingo Mitigate Plastic Packaging Pollution

The Plastic Flamingo (the PLAF), with the support of the CMA CGM Group, a world leader in shipping and logistics, has launched a new recycling line at PLAF upcycling factory in Muntinlupa to upcycle the hard-to-recycle plastic sachet in the Philippines.

This new recycling line creates an incentive for waste collectors to pick up the discarded plastic packaging, instead of leaving them behind as litter that collects on the streets, in sewers and spills into rivers and oceans. This launch marks a milestone as part of CMA CGM and the PLAF’s partnership, which aims to collect 120 metric tons of plastic waste to be upcycled in Metro Manila within a year.
 
2.7 million metric tons of plastic waste are generated in the Philippines each year with about 20 per cent ending up in the ocean. Single-serving plastic packaging has posed as one of the biggest waste issues in this country where an estimated 163 million pieces of sachets are consumed daily, according to the World Bank.
 
With the CMA CGM-funded recycling line, the PLAF will now be able to expand its range of recycled plastic products beyond those that are used to build shelters, boardwalks and outdoor furniture today. The PLAF will optimise the new line to roll out more products to stimulate a market for recycled plastic products and enhance the circular plastic economy. With the PLAF upcycling plastic sachets ahead, the social enterprise is now able to reduce plastic sachet from the equation of marine plastic pollution, saving marine biodiversity and the food chain.
 
The addition of the PLAF’s new recycling line stems from its collaboration with the CMA CGM Group to stop 120 metric tons of plastic from leaking into the ocean. Since last September, about 75 metric tons of plastics have been collected through junk shops, individual waste collectors and various collection points across Metro Manila.

The PLAF’s network of collection points include drop-off points, shops, schools, villages and offices including those of CMA CGM and CEVA Logistics where staff members are contributing by depositing their used plastics into containers. The CMA CGM-PLAF partnership also supports the employment of 12 local staff at PLAF’s factory in Muntinlupa. With the new recycling line up and running, they will continue as part of the PLAF’s production team in taking plastic upcycling forward in the Philippines. 

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