THE PHILIPPINES, MARCH 19, 2012: Advocating for a greener and cleaner Manila, Bates Philippines has come up with The Styro Project, a campaign to push the development of a styrofoam recycling machine.
" The technology has been around for years now. We searched online and discovered how easy it is to recycle styrofoam. A big electronics brand recycles its styrofoam and even has a complete ecosystem for collecting, shredding, compacting, dissolving, and converting the styrofoam in the manufacturing plants it operates," says James Bernardo, executive creative director of Bates said.
Though still in its design stage, Bernardo says that the goal would be to build a cheaper, more compact version of the machine so that small barangays can use it.
"The recycled styrofoam is also a good way for the barangay to earn money for its constituents," explains Bernardo. Aside from local towns, Bates is also aiming to put the machines in malls, fastfood outlets, and other places that use such wastes.
When asked why they chose styrofoam out of all the daily wastes produced, Bernardo has this to say: "It’s because styrofoam takes a very long time to degrade and it also releases CFC into the air which contributes to global warming."
"Ultimately, the plan is to get the government and businesses that use styrofoam to support this project and , eventually, use the technology to build better machines," says Bernardo.
Visit their Facebook page at : www.facebook.com/TheStyroProject for more information.
