Water for All
In 2017, even as our water management efficiency levels were already among the highest in the country, we chose to make our most significant commitment yet to water sustainability. We launched “Water for All,” our Group-wide program to cut non-product, utility water use by 50% by 2025.
We established the SMC Water Council, comprised of technical representatives from each of our operating businesses. They establish and monitor water-saving measures and set water consumption goals across our plants and offices nationwide. We have since been implementing several programs across the Group to achieve our target. This includes eliminating the wastage of water by adopting stricter measures to improve water use efficiency; utilizing water-saving technologies; and implementing conservation programs. All facilities and machinery are closely monitored for any signs of leakage and malfunction that could lead to wastage. Fixing leaks has also contributed significantly to our water reduction efforts. We have increased the recycling and reuse of water across all our operations and have maximized our utilization of desalinated seawater.
We have also built new rainwater collection features and retrofitted or upgraded older facilities to enable rainwater harvesting. Our businesses optimize their wastewater treatment facilities and constantly try to make greater use of treated greywater for non-essential purposes. More significantly, we continue to reduce groundwater use, even as we work with communities to protect these water sources.
River cleanup initiative
In August 2022, San Miguel Corporation completed the Tullahan River cleanup initiative, after 27 months of operations. SMC was able to extract over 1.2 million MT of silt and solid waste from an 11-kilometer stretch of the river system, spanning four major cities. In partnership with the DENR, the project represented the largest river cleanup undertaken by any private company. This accomplishment would only be outpaced in scale and scope a year later by our next initiative—the Pasig River cleanup. By February 2023, just 20 months into the project, we reached the one million MT milestone of silt and solid waste removed from the Pasig River, long a symbol of pollution and neglect in the Philippines. We have also begun the clean-up of Bulacan’s Meycauayan river, to help alleviate perennial flooding. Our river initiatives demonstrate SMC’s willingness to go beyond what is expected. While some of our projects are located along these rivers, our efforts to improve the health of our waterways are driven by our desire to positively impact the environment and the communities we serve. In particular, the wide-scale impacts of flooding and pollution on our cities and people have compelled us to take decisive action.
In a 2021 study published in OurWorldinData.org, the Pasig River emerged as the top plastics-emitting river responsible for the world’s ocean plastics. Meanwhile, the Tullahan and Meycauayan Rivers are ranked four and five on that list. Four other Philippine rivers—the Pampanga, Libmanan, Rio Grande de Mindanao, and Agno rivers—also made it on the top 10 of the same global list. Keeping our rivers clean will help reduce the amount of plastic waste that pollutes our oceans, improve water quality, support biodiversity, and mitigate threats to traditional fishing grounds. But just as important is deepening and widening them to mitigate decades of siltation and pollution that have rendered them unable to serve their purpose of directing flood waters away from our cities. Fully rehabilitating our rivers will of course take more than just ridding them of silt and garbage. To transform our rivers into thriving ecosystems, it will require the collective efforts of various stakeholders, including government, communities, and private sector partners. While it seems like a daunting endeavor, taking the first steps toward restoration is a crucial part and one that SMC is more than willing to take.
Waste-to-resource
We make conscious and disciplined efforts to recycle coal combustion residuals (CCR), mainly as an aggregate material for cement manufacturing. We utilize coal ash as a supplementary material and as a substitute for clinker, an input used to strengthen cement. While coal ash cannot completely replace clinker in cement production, using it as an add-on contributes to reducing GHG emissions. SMGP’s Limay Power Plant and Malita Power Plant have been successful in recycling as much as 80-90% and 70-80% of their coal ash, respectively. This is achieved through recycling coal ash from Limay Power Plant at Petron Bataan Refinery’s cogeneration facility, reducing the plants’ consumption of virgin inert materials (e.g. silica sand), and supplying NCC and Southern Concrete with aggregate material for cement production. Since not all CCR can be recycled, we put significant efforts and investments in proper storage of the excess. We strictly follow and comply with the DENR’s Water Quality Guidelines and General Effluent Standard of 2016 (DAO 201608) to ensure proper management, storage, and monitoring.
We also value the involvement of our partner communities. We carry out information, education, and communication campaigns to discuss specific measures undertaken to ensure that our activities do not cause harm to the environment and to the health of individuals. We also employ biomats made up of biodegradable natural fibers, such as straw, coir, and jute, to cover the ash and prevent erosion and blowing away. The biomats have seedlings already planted, which provide immediate soil stabilization and protection, and strengthen vegetation on slopes. This area will eventually be covered in trees by the end of its 25-year lifespan.