This was done through the Share-a-Chair initiative, a program started by NutriAsia and Del Monte in which the companies collect single-use plastic waste from its different offices and plant sites to turn them into school chairs and other needed furniture for underprivileged public schools and communities. It is the culmination of the two companies’ partnership forged to help the Department of Education address the perennial shortage of school chairs.
NutriAsia and Del Monte collected 19.3 metric tons of plastic waste from their offices and plants for a period of six months. Part of this collection went to the Share-a-Chair donation of 600 school chairs and teachers’ tables distributed to 12 different partner schools in Bukidnon, Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental, and Davao that NutriAsia and Del Monte have chosen for the program.
NutriAsia and Del Monte then partnered with Envirotech Waste Recycling, Inc., a local company with ground-breaking technology to upcycle the collected plastic waste into the furnishings. Upcycling is the process of transforming waste and discarded materials into useable items which is Envirotech’s field of expertise.
Through the Share-a-Chair program and their spirit of resourcefulness, NutriAsia and Del Monte aim to continue upcycling plastic waste and creating more school chairs to be donated to various partner schools across the country. This way, the companies can fulfill their goals of assisting underprivileged Filipino communities and reducing the negative environmental impact of plastic.