Direct selling company Personal Collection (PC) has become the first company in the Philippines to successfully spearhead the country's green initiatives, particularly the drive to rid the world of environmentally harmful plastics, by transitioning from recyclable bottles to the newest biodegradable packaging which decomposes in landfills within five to ten years only, as opposed to regular plastics which last for at least a thousand years.
Aside from its successful recyclable-to-biodegradable transition, PC has also mobilized its network of sellers to advocate for the advantages of biodegradable packaging as their contribution to environmental protection. This is in line with PC's "A Green Life is A Great Life" movement which was launched in June 2020.
As part of PC’s primary environmental advocacy, the company sealed a long-term partnership with Marine Conservation Philippines to conduct coastal cleanups in different areas of the country. Last October 26, 2021, PC facilitated its first coastal cleanup at Albiga Beach, Siaton, in Negros Oriental. Subsequently, the Siliman Beach cleanup in Dumaguete on November 16, 2021 took place, followed by the coastal cleanup in Villareal Beach, Bayawan on December 14, 2021. In all these cleanup activities, tons of plastic waste and other toxic materials were collected.
The traditional notion that recycling alone could eliminate plastic waste is being questioned by data from the US Environment Protection Agency (FPA) that Americans, for example, recycle only 35 percent of more than 267 million tons of solid waste every year. According to a 2020 study of the World-Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Philippines, at the national level, only 40% of packaging waste in the Philippines is collected, and only 9% of the plastic waste is recycled.
PC is also one of the few companies around the world that continue to manufacture the greatest number of biodegradable bottles. On December 7, 2021, the company received a Certificate of Appreciation from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for its invaluable work, strategic measures, and active participation to advocate for environmental protection and sustainability amidst the threats of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We continue to look into more programs and initiatives to support our #GreenLifeGreatLife movement. Last October, we started our coastal cleanups in some parts of the country and, just recently, we planted more than 70,000 mangroves in over 27.5 hectares of reforestation sites in Pampanga and Bataan," said Personal Collection President and CEO Jerome Tuguin.
"We endeavored the shift from recyclable to biodegradable packaging because we believe that this is a sustainable solution that will not only address the major plastic pollution crisis, but will also mitigate many other environmental issues. And we are very enthusiastic to have pioneered this groundbreaking move that also aims to impact the future of every Filipino household,” Tuguin added.