URC Vietnam raises environment protection awareness

As a leading corporation in food and beverage industry as well as a member of the Packaging Recycling Organization Vietnam (PRO Vietnam), URC Vietnam always pioneers in the field of sustainable development.

Results from the report “Plastics – A growing concern” conducted by Ipsos last year show that Vietnam plastic waste is amongst the highest in the world. More than 1.8 million tons of plastic are generated in the country annually while only 27 per cent of which is recycled.

This situation requires leading manufacturing companies to take proactive measures to minimize negative impacts on the environment and raise consumers’ awareness of the proper waste classification and recycling. That is the roadmap URC Vietnam has been following in recent years.

Raising internal awareness first

Positioning itself as a company pursuing a sustainable development model and social responsibility, URC Vietnam always takes practical actions from internal activities.

In response to the messages of the “Environment Month”, URC Vietnam recently launched a competition under theme “Bin It Right Challenge” for more than 3,000 employees.

The competition aims to encourage the employees to come up with initiatives that help create the positive spillover of “Bin it right – Reuse – Recycle” in different ways.

Despite this is internal activities, URC Vietnam’s board of directors has carried out professionally and methodically internal communication for the competition, initiatives submission, assessment as well as the award ceremony.

Within one month, the competition has witnessed a positive response from the staff with many creative solutions. A lot of ideas such as eco bricks, furniture or green walls made from used plastic and plastic bags, etc. have impressed others by their practical applicability.

Funiture products made of used plastics.

“As a member of PRO Vietnam, URC Vietnam believes the action of segregating waste properly is a start for a greener and cleaner future of Vietnam. I am very proud that the challenge was supported by all employees and we will have more meaningful activities in the coming time,” said Laurent Levan, President & General director of URC Vietnam.

Laurent Levan – President & General Director of URC Vietnam.

Vu Than Duong, a staff in finished-goods warehouse of URC Vietnam stated: “In addition to instruct employees to segregate and recycle waste properly, the competition also strengthen the solidarity among employees.”

Besides the awards for outstanding ideas, URC Vietnam also provides opportunities for participants to put their solutions into action and spread out the message of environmental protection to the community.

Perseverance “for a green, clean and beautiful Vietnam”

URC Vietnam’s representative said that the competition is a part of the strategy that company has built to achieve the sustainable development goals, based on three main pillars including: Communications and Behavior Change; Waste segregation & Collection and Recycling & Circular Packaging.

As a co-founding member of PRO Vietnam, URC Vietnam actively participates in many important activities of the alliance such as “PRO Vietnam 1st anniversary” event” and the seminar on circular economy held by the Institute for Circular Economic Development (ICED).

Laurent Levan (middle) – President & General director of URC Vietnam, cum Head of Technical operation of PRO Vietnam, is a speaker at the Workshop “Circular Economy: World Experience and ability to perform in Vietnam

Laurent added: “As a key founding member of PRO Vietnam, URC Vietnam has endeavored to bring about communication initiatives and raise awareness of waste classification for both inside and outside the organization. In 2019, our staff participated in a campaign of collecting and sorting 1.1 ton of waste. We have also placed the logo of PRO Vietnam on our product packaging to increase consumer awareness. Our goal is also in line with PRO Vietnam’s goal – all of the packaging material sold would be then collected for recycling.”

More than 1.1 tons of waste collected and classified by URC Vietnam’s staffs.

URC Vietnam is currently proceeding next steps, starting from changing consumers’ perceptions and behaviors. Its goal in the next five years (2020 – 2025) is to change the behavior of waste disposal, increase the collection rate of plastic waste for recycling, and minimize the amount of garbage throwed into the environment.

Due to its efforts, last year, URC Vietnam was announced as one of the top 100 sustainable businesses 2019 in Vietnam, honored by the Vietnam Business Council for Sustainable Development in collaboration with the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

This is also the motivation for URC Vietnam to affirm that its business activities are always associate with sustainable values, contributing to the development of green and circular economy.

URC Vietnam is part of Philippines’s Universal Robina Corporation (URC), a leading multinational company in ASEAN and Oceania. URC’s products include C2 Tea, Red Dragon, confectionery brand Jack n Jill includes Cream-O cookies, Magic crackers, Big Bang Dynamite candy, Puff Corn.

Started operating in Vietnam since 2003, URC have invested about $200 million and provided work opportunities for more than 3,500 people in Vietnam. Up to now, URC Vietnam has five factories with modern production chains in all three regions.

Credit: The Leader