SM Prime Explores Potential Partnership with Japanese Firm for Waste-to-Fuel Solutions

Fluff Fuels are one type of RDF which are produced from shredded and compressed plastics, papers, and fibers. These are used as fuels in cement manufacturing, paper mill companies, or power companies in Japan. SM Prime Chairman of the Executive Committee Hans Sy, is positive that a partnership with GUNN will contribute to the waste reduction goals of the country. "Today, Japan's waste management and recycling technology is among the most advanced in the world. There is no better partner for SM because we do not just talk about being big, we make sure we do it; we do not talk about being environment friendly but we do take bold steps to save the environment. I am looking forward to growing with GUNN as among leaders in solving environmental issues in the Philippines." 

"This will be a milestone partnership for us," said Shinji Fujieda, CEO of GUNN. "I understand very much how important waste management is for SM and for the Philippines and we look forward to more projects we can do with the properties of SM Prime."

SM Prime's initiatives for waste management include waste reduction and effective waste collection and segregation. Over the years, it has implemented programs such as Trash to Cash, Plastic Waste Collection, and E-Waste Collection that have contributed to reducing the total solid waste generation across its real estate portfolio. 

Through its pioneering Trash to Cash recycling market, SM Prime has collected and recycled 1.4M kg of plastics, paper, metals, and others in 2022. "We have saved 16,766 trees from the 986,222 kg of paper recycled," SM Prime disclosed in its 2022 Integrated Report to shareholders. 

Meanwhile, SM's Plastic Waste Collection program, a partnership with the Plastic Credit Exchange that was launched in February 2021, has accumulated 42,541kg of plastic waste from 14 mall sites. Also present in all its 83 SM Supermalls is the E-Waste Collection program for the responsible disposal of Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment. This drive has helped process close to 7,000 kg of e-waste.