I didn’t know it’s possible to make a cement paver out of a plastic sachet. Not until I became a part of Unilever, Smart Communications and Cebuana Lhuillier through their Sachet Recovery Program.
It turned out that these three big companies have long been making cement pavers out of Surf sachets to help improve Filipino lives and the environment after the country suffered Supertyphoon Ondoy onslaught.
Now on it’s third year, Unilever, through its number one laundry brand Surf, Smart Communications and Cebuana Lhuillier—have renewed and strengthened their commitment to champion environmental sustainability. Through their joint efforts to create a process that is easy, convenient and rewarding, the program involves and educates more consumers about sustainability and waste recycling.
Smart Communications President and CEO, Mr. Napoleon Nazareno, Unilever Philippines President and CEO, Mr. Rohit Jawa and Cebuana Lhuillier President and CEO, Mr. Jean Henri Lhuillier
Unilever Philippines Chairman and CEO Rohit Jawa thanked their partners for their continued support in the endeavor to reduce the environmental impact of sachets. This, according to Jawa, is in line with the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan that aims to double their business while cutting their environmental footprint in half, and in the process, bringing a brighter future to one billion people worldwide.
“We owe the Sachet Recovery program’s success these past two years to the valuable contributions of Smart Communications and Cebuana Lhuillier. This year, their bigger participation will definitely produce greater results for the benefit of the environment and Filipino communities,” Jawa said.
Smart Communications President and CEO, Napoleon Nazareno, also breaks a good news, “As we enter the third year of this worthy undertaking, Smart is expanding its support for this program. Starting this year, Talk ‘N Text and Sun subscribers will also be able to exchange their Surf sachets for free SMS. This opens the door to engaging millions more of Filipinos in this endeavor.”
Cebuana Lhuillier, on the other hand, will add newly-opened outlets to facilitate the redemption of Surf sachets. “Our growing branch network, which now totals close to 2,000 outlets, will provide a convenient way for millions of consumers nationwide to participate in the Sachet Recovery Program,” said Jean Henri Lhuillier, Cebuana Lhuillier President and CEO.
For the last two years, they have made thousands of cement pavers out of 12 million Surf sachets collected all over the country. They donated the pavers to Barangay Union Coastal of Mayorga, Leyte and served as foundation to the environmentally-friendly laundry facility, Surf Labahan.
During the event, the partners also donated 7,000 cement pavers to the Mandaluyong Elementary School. The construction materials—made from hundreds of thousands of shredded empty sachets—will form pathways to improve school grounds and make walking around the school more convenient for students.
This time, to get more people involved in and be educated about recycling empty sachets, the three industry leaders plan to make the Sachet Recovery Program bigger and better than the first two years. For every sachet surrendered in any of the close to 2,000 Cebuana Lhuillier outlets, consumers will receive 10 free texts from Smart.
Now to give you idea how your Surf sachets be converted into pavers, browse on the photos below.
Surf sachets are shredded into tiny pieces
Sand and Cement
Mixture of sand, cement and shredded Surf sachet. Ratio is 1 is to 1 for the mixture.
Let the mixture dry in the mold.
Colorful cement pavers made by students of Mandaluyong Elementary School
So mommies, do not throw your Surf sachets, instead, collect them and exchange them for free text from Smart and Talk ‘n Text in any Cebuana Lhuillier branch near you and help save the environment at the same time. An easy, peasy for a trash and flood free community! And please help spread the word. Thank you.
That’s one cool way to help save the environment. Good job Surf!
Well done to Unilever and partners for being so generous. Great job for the community!
Wow! Reduce, Reuse and Recycle! We always wonder what companies do with all the recovery program and if it’s all talk and no action on their claims to help the environment! I’m so glad to see that Unilever is walking the talk!
Wonderful innovation by unilever
Wow! I’m impressed that they found a great way of recycling their plastic. Thanks for the tip, I’m subscribed to Smart but will inform my friends who have prepaid lines.
This is a great community program, you get to save the environment at the same time save some money. Thanks for sharing this event.
what’s cement paver used for? is it for roadside pavement walkway? i wonder if using those recycled materials will compromise on the paver’s compressive strength? or are these pavers not meant to be used for structural components at all?
Hi, Mia, the cement pavers are used for pavement walkway only and not for major structures.
This is a good program for the environment. I am an ecolover and would love to share this new way to help save the earth.
As one undergoing evironmental science in the tertiary institution, this is something I could have a go at after studies. But maybe it’ll be my project work. Hope I remember. Thanks for sharing the photos and this great innovation. And l like Smarts offer “Talk ‘N Text and Sun subscribers will also be able to exchange their Surf sachets for freeSMS. This opens the door to engaging millions more of Filipinos in this endeavor.”
This is such an amazing iniciative! I hope more people will start doing more things like this around the world!
This is a great initiative for the 3 companies. It really helps reuse surf sachets and put it to good use.
What a cool idea and an excellent example of ways to recycle resources in a productive way.
It is commendable they are doing this, but I wonder if they can avoid using plastic sachets at all? This is really a puzzling problem — practicality vs. environmental concerns.
Wow, that is an awesome campaign! Involving and educating more consumers about sustainability and waste recycling is a very noble deed aiming at conservation of nature and environment!
Good business gimmick by Unilever that is eco-friendly. Nice plastic recycling idea.
Unilever is a very reputational brand. It’s really a good community program and glad to know they doing it for the environment!~
It’s actually the first time I’ve heard of the sachet recovery program so I’m amazed with what they have achieved so far. It’s very admirable how they have been donating pavers all the while reducing their carbon footprint.