GR machines deployed in SM Malls nationwide are set to make recycling easy, fun, and rewarding
Your empty PET bottles have better places to go than landfills – and SM takes them there.
Through Green Recycling Machines (GR Machines), SM Prime Holdings, Inc. (SM Prime) uses the national reach of SM Supermalls to make sustainable action easy, accessible, and rewarding for mall-goers nationwide.
“GR Machines enrich SM Group’s existing waste management efforts under the SM Green Movement,” said SM Supermalls President Steven Tan. “With the deployment of these machines, we hope to partner with our customers in taking care of the environment by helping to recycle PET bottles whenever they enter their favorite SM Supermalls.”
Each GR machine can be easily used by any user and can accept PET bottles of up to two liters. Together, GR Machines across the country can handle up to 5,000 bottles collectively in one batch cycle pressed into the machine. The compressed PET blocks are then collected and given a second life by SM’s haulage partner Sentinel who turn the blocks into reusable items such as food trays.
Less does more: Saving the environment one diverted bottle at a time
According to the World Bank, the Philippines rewards more than that 300 million metric tons of plastic waste in the ocean every year – equivalent to around 9 per cent of plastic waste that cannot be managed properly. The Philippines has also been recognized as one of the East Asia and Pacific regions leading in marine plastic pollution.
Recognizing that sustainability and protecting the environment is more than a single organization’s effort, SM has used its presence across the country by using its facilities to involve its customers and surrounding communities in increasing the collection of recyclables, especially plastics. Through SM Cares, its Corporate Social Responsibility arm, SM empowers communities to adopt sustainable practices through simple and accessible ways to participate in protecting the environment. To combat the growing issue of pollution, SM Group has developed waste separation efforts to increase its collection and diversion of plastics from the area since 2007 with its first program, the Garbage to Cash recycling market.
SM Group’s Trash to Cash initiative was organized by SM Cares as a community pilot program that encouraged customers to separate recyclables such as metal, paper, and plastic and exchange them for cash every month. SM Supermalls also followed up this effort by introducing two Reverse Vending Machines at SM Mall of Asia and SM Megamall that enabled customers to sort aluminum cans and empty PETs for discounts on sports and leisure. In addition to this, SM also hosts national beach clean-up campaigns every year with the strength and efforts of its volunteers.
With the latest mobile recycling technology, SM’s GR Equipment encourages customers to turn good intentions into everyday environmentally friendly actions in three simple steps:
- Fit any PET bottle up to 2 liters in the machine.
- Confirm your deposit by pressing the command on the screen.
- Expect your reward.
“This is just a glimpse of how SM intends to enrich the Regional Economy through the superior role we play in consolidating efforts for seamless waste management, all for Filipinos. We hope that with the addition of the SM GR Mission, our continued partnership with our customers in protecting the environment will yield a sustainable future,” said Mr. Tan.
Customers can start depositing their plastic bottles at SM GR Machines at all the following supermarkets: SM North EDSA, SM City San Lazaro, SM Megamall, SM The Podium, SM Aura, SM Southmall, SM Mall of Asia, S’Maison, SM Seaside City Cebu again SM Lanang.
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