TVC promotes certification among tourism industry to ensure readiness of hotels, MICE

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In line with the celebration of World Ecolabel Day, the Transforming Tourism Value Chains (TVC) conducted a webinar on Certifications and Standards: Raising the Bar for Sustainable Tourism last October 13, 2022, via Zoom Meetings. The program’s primary aim is to introduce certification schemes, which offer a wide array of criteria and standardization programs for different businesses such as hotels, MICE(Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibitions) establishments, and restaurants. “Moving forward, I would like to welcome everyone here to the Zoom meeting. Thank you very much for participating. Let’s work hard toward sustainable tourism. Of course, in the hotels, in the restaurant sector, what we do is we try to make sure that all planning for sustainable tourism is being implemented,” Ms. Mary Ann Darroca-Matiling, Iloilo Hotel Restaurants & Resorts Association President, said in her message of support. Ms. Darroca-Matiling also noted that they have been partnering with the Department of Tourism and the Department of Agriculture to ensure that the products the hotels are selling are quality assured. Climate Change Division Chief of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Mr. Albert Magalang opened the program by talking about Aligning with the Glasgow Declaration: Climate Action in Tourism. Moreover, Ms. Susan Santos de Cárdenas, President & CEO of the Society for Sustainable Tourism & Development Inc. (SSTDI), discussed the Green Destinations & Good Travel Awards Certification Program. Ms. Michelle Lapiz, the Programme Officer of Green Choice Philippines gave an overview of the Certifying Restaurants and Foodservices with Green Choice Philippines. For the final lecture, Ms. Alexis Bautista, the Sustainability and Quality Manager of the SMX Convention Center focused on highlighting Sustainable Dining Experiences at Café Veranda. Furthermore, the focus of the webinar is to introduce the TVC project and highlight the existing opportunities and benefits that the hotels and MICE businesses can leverage in joining the project, and how this can be aligned with international commitments such as the Glasgow Declaration and Global Plastic Tourism Initiative (GTPI).

Adopting Sustainable Procurement in the Tourism Sector | Case Studies of Cooperating with Stakeholders

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For the last two weeks in our Sustainable Procurement Awareness Series, we’ll be showing some examples of businesses, both local and international, who have successfully adopted sustainable procurement in their operations.  This week, we highlight two businesses in Palawan who have successfully maximized impact by working together with relevant stakeholders in the tourism value chain: Daluyon Beach and Mountain Resort, and El Nido Resorts Ten Knots Development Group.  Daluyon Beach and Mountain Resort was able to save on costs in the long term because of procuring energy-efficient equipment. The challenge was reducing environmental impacts of the resort operations by choosing energy-efficient solutions, decreasing the dependence on fossil fuels without compromising guest comfort and satisfaction.  Using the 3R Strategy – Reduce, Replace and Redesign – the resort was able to save on significant savings, such as monthly energy cost savings of PhP 1,166 (per tubular light) and annual energy savings of Php 204,078 by installing louver roof ventilation and water sprinklers. The challenge of El Nido Resorts of Ten Knots Development Corporation was to address an increasing food demand due to the increase of tourists arrivals and local population, while creating opportunities for the local communities to generate income and engage throughout the food value chain.  By guaranteeing that at least one ton of vegetables per week is supplied by local farmers, who underwent training sponsored by El Nido Resorts and even in cooperation with Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), El Nido Resorts were able to reduce 20% of overall food costs in 2016, as well as transportation costs and therefore GHG emissions as well. They were also able to create local businesses by engaging the local communities.  For more case studies like these, feel free to check out the full report Transforming Tourism through Sustainable Procurement at https://www.oneplanetnetwork.org/resource/transforming-tourism-through-sustainable-procurement Stay tuned for more posts about this topic on our Facebook page here. 

Adopting Sustainable Procurement in the Tourism Sector | Options for Air-conditioning and Cooling Equipment

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For our third week in this awareness series about Sustainable Procurement, as part of our efforts to advocate sustainable tourism practices here in the Philippines, we’ll be highlighting the impacts of air-conditioning and cooling equipment, and how to procure more sustainable alternatives to these materials. Some of the impacts of cooling equipment on our environment are the following:  In light of these factors, here are some recommended criteria that businesses can consider on their next purchase of sustainable options to air-conditioning and cooling equipment: However, in order to truly enhance the market for these alternatives, here are a few opportunities that the sector can maximize:  Economic incentives such as competitive pricing compared to conventional options, and lower monthly utility costs Further education about sustainable options with government and consumer campaigns  Green labels have more influence compared to other product groups, resulting in more educating and awareness raising  You can learn more about recommended sustainability criteria for selected product groups in the report Local Market Readiness Analysis for Sustainable Procurement of Selected Products in the Philippine Hospitality Sector, written by Strategia Development Research Institute, Inc. and commissioned by PCEPSDI in 2019.  Stay tuned for more posts about this topic on our Facebook page here. 

Roundtable Discussion on the Solid Waste Management and Promotion of Sustainable Packaging in Iloilo and Bacolod City

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On August 24 and 26, 2021, the Philippine Center for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development, INC. (PCEPSDI), through its Sustainable Packaging Towards Marine Litter Reduction Project, held a Roundtable Discussion on the Solid Waste Management and Promotion of Sustainable Packaging in Iloilo and Bacolod City. The discussion aims to bring about the existing policies of the national and local government of Iloilo and Bacolod City, to determine the challenges, gaps, opportunities, and priorities on the packaging and solid waste management in the locality, and to involve the Department of Environment and Natural Resources – Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB), the local government unit of Iloilo and Bacolod City and other relevant stakeholders in the wide-ranging discussion. Ms. Kim Castillo, the Project Assistant of the Sustainable Packaging under Philippine Center for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development, Inc. (PCEPSDI), delivers the Sustainable Consumption and Production Tools and Practices towards Policy Improvement on Waste Management for the Reduction of Marine Litter. Ms. Castillo’s presentation emphasized the main projects of PCEPSDI to enlighten the consciousness of the different private and public sectors regarding the goal of the company She stressed out that shifting from Linear Economy to Circular Economy is a key solution to marine litter. With that, the project aims to develop eco labelling criteria and certify products for sustainable packaging, establish a private sector roadmap to instruct strategic plans, propose solutions and recognize stakeholders that can be involved towards the implementation of shifting to more sustainable packaging and to promote sustainable packaging through environmental education campaigns.  Aside from that, Ms. Castillo also underlined other main projects of PCEPSDI such as the Development of Voluntary Guidelines on Sustainable Packaging Towards Reduction of Marine litter and Promoting Packaging from Alternative Materials through Market-based Approach, the Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP), the Ecolabelling, Green Procurement, and the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). To promote and advocate the projects of PCEPSDI, regular seminars on ecolabelling and SCP Practices, Sectoral Sustainability initiatives, Pilot projects, and Kalikasan GP3 Expo-Conference are being able to exercise. To present the National Policies on Packaging and Solid Waste Management, Mr. Jepp Farrales of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources – Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB) highlighted the Republic Act No. 9003 or The Ecological Waste Management Act of 2000 and the sections it encompasses. Under the provisions of RA 7160 known as the Local Government Code, the Local Government Unit is the main responsible for the implementation and enforcement of the obligations of the RA 9003 within their respective districts. The city or the municipality level is accountable for the collection of non-recyclable waste while biodegradable, compostable, and reusable waste are under the provision of the barangay unit. Mr. Faralles stressed that the major problem with solid waste management is not the system but the behavior of the people. To inform the participants, he gave a brief enlightening presentation on the different types of waste that we generate in normal activities. Compostable waste refers to biodegradable waste consist of food, garden, and animal waste; Recyclable waste pertains to materials retrieved from the waste stream and is free from contamination that can still be transformed into appropriate beneficial use; Special waste refers to household waste which poses potential hazards such as paints, batteries, thinner, etc.; and the waste that is non-compostable and non-recyclable like sanitary napkins and diapers defines Residual waste. The participants were given a chance to raise issues in their respective cities during the roundtable discussion in where both private and public are can address the issues present in the city The Roundtable Discussion was warmly ended by Ms. Erica Nicole D. Gomez, Project Officer of Philippine Center for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development, Inc. (PCEPSDI), by delivering the overall synthesis of the Roundtable Discussion. Ms. Gomez insisted that there is a need to have a collective action with government, policymakers, non-government organizations, businesses, and consumers to have a significant advancement in the Solid Waste Management System. She assured that every perspective will be incorporated with the future project of PCEPSDI, and the information gathered will contribute to the formulation of the Policy Recommendation Guidelines of the project. She promised that every concept, information, and knowledge shared by the participants would be respected and considered in future action steps since this will be beneficial as it will become a basis for the Policy Dialogue that the PCEPSDI will conduct with policymakers and experts.  Author: Engr. Augusto Luis Labos

Mapping Out the Challenges and Impacts to Sustainable Packaging

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The Philippine Center for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development, INC. (PCEPSDI), through its Sustainable Packaging Towards Marine Litter Reduction Project, held a Training Webinar entitled “Development of a Private Sector Roadmap for Sustainable Packaging Workshop 1: Mapping Out the Challenges and Impacts to Sustainable Packaging” on August 4, 2021. The webinar aims for different private and public sectors in the Philippines to develop their roadmap for sustainable packaging, to raise consciousness for the importance of monitoring the sustainability impact of sustainable packaging, to be aware of the socio-environmental impacts of the packaging industry, urging global efforts for circular economy against marine litter, highlight the importance of waste management system and introduce the working draft of the packaging value chain. During the webinar proper, Mr. Alvaro Zurita, the project team leader of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ Philippines), provided the Opening Remarks by asking, “where does waste come from?”. The consumer has a significant role in contributing to marine litter, and they have a big responsibility to alter their bad practice. He also said that sustainable waste management is a simple way to commence, but a person’s physical and mental aspects must arrive together to execute it. Two years ago, Mr. Zurita initiated a circular economy solution towards marine litter reduction with the Philippines, Vietnam, China, Indonesia, Singapore, and Japan as partner countries in response to this problem. As the first speaker, Ms. Paulith Ann Aguilar, the Research Assistant of Philippine Center for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development, Inc. (PCEPSDI), provides the introduction of PCEPSDI, the National Ecolabelling Programme – Green Choice Philippines (NELP-GCP), and the Sustainable Packaging Project. This project aims to urge people to alter their behavioral patterns in consumption and production that may consequently precede the degradation of our environment through implementing principles of sustainable development.  Ms. Aguilar also highlights the Development of Voluntary Guidelines on Sustainable Packaging Towards Reduction of Marine litter and Promoting Packaging from Alternative Materials through Market-based Approach which aims to develop ecolabelling criteria and certify products for sustainable packaging, establish a private sector roadmap and promote sustainable packaging through an environmental education campaign. The Project Consultant of Philippine Center for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development, Inc. (PCEPSDI), Mr. Kiko E. Velhagen headed the draft Value Chain for Packaging. The draft was consisting of three major concepts, the value chain; which is the sequence of activities or parties that provide or receive value in the form of products and services, environmental hotspot; is a process or activity which accounts for a significant proportion of the environmental impact in the value chain and the systematic solution which is a strategic theme for a group of actions and interventions with the same overarching goal. The overall aim of this project is to provide guidelines on sustainable packaging towards reducing marine litter.  One of the critical outputs of the Sustainable Packaging Project is to develop a Market Readiness Study that can distinguish the challenges and opportunities of sustainable packaging. As another Project Consultant of the Philippine Center for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development, Inc. (PCEPSDI), Dr. Maria Angela Zafra enlightened the participants concerning the Socio-environmental Impacts of the Packaging Industry. She features the Market Readiness Study, which aims to introduce the seven types of alternative packaging such as Biodegradable, Bio-based, Wood, and Paper-based on the sustainably managed forest, Compostable, Recyclable, Reusable, long-lasting, and with recycled content. Aside from that, Dr. Zafra told the participants concerning the opportunities and obstacles of the consumers in switching to sustainable packaging. The webinar training was enthusiastically ended by Ms. Andrea Janelle D. Go, Project Assistant of Philippine Center for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development, Inc. (PCEPSDI), by delivering the overall summary of the Roadmap Development Workshop Training. She wished the participants to have a meaningful and worthwhile discussion during this workshop. She assured that every idea, concept, and information shared by all participants would be valued and considered in future action steps. The project Sustainable Packaging Towards Marine Litter Reduction Project, implemented by PCEPSDI, is funded by the ‘Rethinking Plastics – Circular Economy Solutions to Marine Litter’ project of the European Union andthe German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). ‘Rethinking Plastics‘is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH andExpertise France. More information: https://beatplasticpollution.eu/rethinking-plastics/ This newsletter was produced with the financial support of the ‘Rethinking Plastics – Circular Economy Solutions to Marine Litter’ project. ‘Rethinking Plastics’ is funded by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by GIZ and Expertise France. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of PCEPSDI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union, the BMZ, GIZ or Expertise France. Main Author: Ms. Andrea M. Alejandro; Co-author: Mr. Augusto Luis A. Labos

SM Supermalls for PCEPSDI NELP-GCP

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SM Supermalls exploring on how The Philippine Center for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development (PCEPSDI) through the National Ecolabelling Programme – Green Choice Philippines (NELP-GCP), take initiative for the Ecolabelling of SM Supermalls tenants for their products and services. The National Ecolabelling Programme – Green Choice Philippines (NELP-GCP) is one of the country’s initiatives to exercise the fundamentals of sustainable development. It aims to change the behavioral patterns in consumption and production that tend to misuse, abuse, and degrade our environment. Through a multi-sectoral process, the NELP-GCP programme provides criteria for environmentally-preferable products which can be used as a guide for consumers and institutions for product selection. In this way, SM Supermalls are ensured that their tenants are responsible and doing action for the environmental impact of their products and services. NELP-GCP envisions that environment friendly products or services are being produced and distributed in the country. SM Supermalls is currently engaged with PCEPSDI for the Sustainable Packaging Project. The project aims to promote the use of sustainable packaging by developing and piloting the NELP-GCP criteria for sustainable packaging, developing the private sector roadmap on sustainable packaging towards marine waste reduction that can be initiated by SM Supermalls, and conducting educational and policy campaigns to raise awareness of relevant stakeholders such as retail store employees, policy makers, and general consumers. The meeting is attended by PCEPSDI team are Executive Director, For. June M. Alvarez, Programme Officer of NELP-GCP, Ms. Jouelle H. Nerveza, Project Officer, Ms. Erica Nicole Gomez, Project Assistant, Ms. Kim Castillo, Project Assitant, Ms. Andrea Janelle Go, Project Assistant, Project Coordinator, Ms. Anabelle Selibio, and  Research Assistant, Ms. Paulith H. Aguilar, and for SM Supermalls are the Vice President of Corporate Compliance, Engr. Liza Silero, Assistant Vice President of Sustainability, Corporate Resilience and CSR Marketing, Mr. Chito Bauzon, and Corporate Compliance Manager, Ms. Belinda Gonzales. Author: Engr. Augusto Luis Labos