Cleanway: A Best Practice in Eco-productivity

This was the speech delivered at the recently completed Eco-Mismo Metro Manila Conference by MR. HERMINIO S. ESGUERRA Chairman & CEO of The Herma Group, the mother company of Cleanway Technology.

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There are three dimensions to sustainable development - SOCIETY, ECONOMY and ENVIRONMENT. In the words of foremost environmentalist Jonathon Porritt, “Economy is a subsystem of society, and society, in turn, is a subsystem of the totality of life on earth.”

This is the very foundation of Green Productivity, which is, to increase economic productivity and business competitiveness by harnessing the power of our supporting ecosystems.

If we are to position the Philippines as a leading destination of green travel and ecotourism, our challenge is to maintain and promote the sustainable diversity and productivity of our country’s ecological systems despite economic advancement.

If we are to ensure that future generations are left with the same environmental potential that we are presently enjoying, our challenge is to lessen the impacts of human activity on the environment despite social advancement.

With the introduction of the Reduce, Re-use, Recycle mentality, these damaging impacts are foreseen to be effectively diminished and, in time, completely eliminated.

The good news is that we are already beginning to see the gradual but progressive changes in people’s day-to-day habits. We are becoming more conscious of our energy usage. More and more people are favoring organic and environment-friendly products. Consumers are now converting to energy-efficient appliances, and businesses are beginning to adopt green technologies and even energy-efficient or renewable energy operations.

As discussed by Dr. Abanto, Green Productivity is a paradigm shift, and therefore, a process that will take time. The shorter time, the better. But until we get from here to there, we need to have the necessary structures that will ensure sustainability. An interim solution but a necessary solution, nevertheless.

At the stage where we are in the transition process towards becoming an eco-productive society, waste remains to be a significant by-product of our socio-economic metabolism - by-products of even the most basic activities, services and comforts that we require in this day and age.

What has to be ensured therefore is that these wastes do not pose any threat to the environment. I refer especially to waste that can no longer be re-used or recycled, and those that have been determined to be highly hazardous.

The Herma Group, through Cleanway Technology Corporation, fills the critical void in the area of environmental protection via pollution prevention. It is our way of integrating sustainable development into the industrial development process - not just by adhering to resolutions but by actually providing the solutions.

Our initial efforts were met with skepticism with regard to its viability and the readiness of the Philippine market for such an enterprise. It was, after all, a pioneering endeavor that was capital-intensive and initially met with strong opposition from civil society and various interest groups.

But, we believed in our vision. We were committed to the good that we intended to do. And in time, we prevailed.

Today, Cleanway is a compelling force for good by serving as a crucial support system for our country as it moves from our environmental apathy of decades ago, to our present disposition of environmental compliance, and eventually, to the environmentally productive society that we envision.

Cleanway is now the country’s leading integrated environmental management company that utilizes the most advanced technologies and processes to treat and dispose industrial, medical and hazardous wastes.

It offers services that enable industries to achieve resource-efficiency such as solvent or oil recovery, recovery of metals from e-wastes, composting, and the treatment of industrial raw materials for re-use. Resource efficiency practices are also encouraged in Cleanway, for instance, in terms of re-using around 50% of its wastewater in its plant operations.

Cleanway Technology Corporation is a shining example of Filipino enterprise working with and for nature in the pursuit of socio-economic development with the good of the environment at its very core. If I may borrow the battle cry of our esteemed Chairman, former President Fidel V. Ramos, “Kaya natin ‘to!”