GLOBAL building solutions provider Holcim Group recently launched a solar-powered vessel that can collect plastic litter in Manila Bay to help in ongoing rehabilitation efforts.
The Circular Explorer, built in partnership with the Germany-based environmental organization One Earth One Ocean, is powered by 100% renewable energy and can recover four tons of floating marine plastic per day.
The catamaran, with a lifespan of 25 years, has a cleaning capacity of 21,000 square meters per hour.
The firm’s local unit Holcim Philippines, Inc., in an emailed statement on Thursday, said it will receive the boat from the Holcim Group in the first half of next year.
The Circular Explorer is part of the Holcim Group’s stronger focus on sustainability and innovation… (It) will be operated by environmental organization One Earth One Ocean and supported by Holcim Philippines,” it said.
“Through the Circular Explorer, we will further advance circular economy or the preservation of natural resources by reusing materials as much as possible and have a more positive impact in building progress in the Philippines,” Holcim Philippines President and Chief Executive Officer Horia-Ciprian Adrian said.
Last week, Holcim’s local unit forged a deal with the Marine Environment and Resource Foundation, Inc. based in the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute to develop solutions to plastic pollution.
Holcim Philippines operates waste management unit Geocycle, which converts qualified waste material to alternative fuel that is used to manufacture cement. The firm has four cement manufacturing facilities, located in La Union, Bulacan, Misamis Oriental, and Davao. — Angelica Y. Yang