SM Hotels and Conventions Corp. (SMHCC) commemorated World Recycling Day with the launch of Tela Tales during a sustainability briefing and exhibit entitled ‘SMHCC Road to Zero.’
SM Hotels and Conventions Corp. celebrates World Recycling Day with the launch of Tela Tales
Leah Magallanes, SMHCC’s Vice President for Quality and Sustainability, presented the company’s sustainability efforts focused on various ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) practices and metrics. These initiatives all aim to achieve Zero Waste, Zero Green Washing, and Zero Biases. Complementing Ms. Magallanes’s briefing was a showcase of completed projects and actual outputs achieved in partnership with key stakeholders (Hope Water, Diversey Philippines, Greenspace PH, and Green Trident Services):
- Contribution of over Php300,000 to help build classrooms while also enabling the clean up of over 7,100 kg of plastic wastes since 2022, diverting them from polluting the environment.
- Diversion of over 253 kg of used bar soaps and conversion of these soaps into new ones.
- Diversion of a total of 198,640 kg of food using the bokashi composting technique.
- Diversion of over 10,000 kg of paper wastes and 2,000 kg of plastic wastes, which were then used to produce sustainable products, such as Papel ni Juan recycled bond paper and Poly al Eco Boards. Additionally, by using Dunbrae Philippines’ Orca Biodigester, Taal Vista Hotel diverted a total of 11,672 kg of food wastes since the installation of the biodigester last July 2023.
The highlight of the event was the official launch of Tela Tales. Tela Tales is a recycling program that advocates environmental stewardship and aims to create a circular economy for discarded linens. Inspired by its motto, “Transforming lives, one textile at a time,” this transformative initiative endeavors to uplift the lives of communities near SM hotel properties by equipping them with a new skill to improve their socioeconomic conditions. In collaboration with Ms. Juan, used textiles will be transformed into fashionable and sustainable bags, which will be sold at a competitive price, to help women have a source of livelihood.
Following the main event was a delectable lunch called “Plate for the Planet.” Every item on the menu was carefully curated by a team of culinary experts from Taal Vista Hotel, featuring locally sourced and hotel harvested ingredients. “Plate for the Planet” is part of SMHCC’s Sustainable Diner program, which is another testament to SMHCC’s commitment to circular economy in its operations. This program involves using food waste to create compost for gardening and farming, which in turn produces vegetables, herbs, and fruits used by the hotel. Ultimately, the program is aimed at expanding healthy and environment-friendly dining options, directed towards reducing dining wastes and mitigating GHG emissions in the food service industry.
Ms. Magallanes shared that “the launch of Tela Tales, complemented by Sustainable Diner, marks a significant milestone in SMHCC’s Sustainability journey. It is a testament of the company’s relentless commitment to move the needle one linen and one plate at a time.”
