As part of its Reduce, Replace and Revolutionize approach to sustainability, FedEx Philippines is working with The Plastic Flamingo (The Plaf) to repurpose its plastic waste and contribute to the cause of fighting marine pollution in the country.
The Plaf is a social enterprise that aims to tackle the country’s plastic crisis. At the same time, they generate employment opportunities for low-income families, especially women, so they can earn sustainable income from doing meaningful work.
The name brings to mind the fun pink flamingo decorations that typically grace suburban lawns, gardens and parks. It symbolizes the need to protect the marine environment while use of the color pink echoes its advocacy on inclusion of women in the workplace — and makes recycling more appealing.
Led by founders Francois and Charlotte Lesage, The Plaf developed an efficient plastic waste collection system and recycling process to transform plastic into sustainable eco-lumbers used for building furniture and emergency shelters.
FedEx and The Plaf share the belief that addressing the plastic problem is urgent and a collective resolve from the public, private and government sectors is critical.
In just three years of operations, The Plaf has collected more than 70 tons from various sources throughout the country, with around 50 percent recycled and transformed into eco-lumbers with the help of their co-processing and recycling partners. They aim to collect and recycle 2,000 tons of plastic waste by 2023 and they are targeting to commence building the emergency shelters this year.
For FedEx, the work toward minimizing its environmental footprint continues through finding innovative, transformational solutions as well as pursuing purpose-driven collaborations.
