CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga (PIA) — The Baliwag Water District (BWD) continues to prioritize community welfare by implementing a series of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities.
These activities aimed to help the government in uplifting the lives of residents and fostering sustainable development in the city and its nearby communities.
During the 26th episode of the Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas of the Philippine Information Agency, BWD Legal Services and Public Information Head Jose Angelo Pagkanlungan said one of their flagship CSR projects is its plastic waste diversion program, which aims to conserve the environment.
“Plastic is one of the pressing problems in terms of pollution because of its life cycle. Through this program, we aim to reduce, if not totally eradicate plastic use,” he said.
Under this program, BWD partnered with different schools to collect plastics. Afterwards, these are transported to an upcycling facility to be used as a component in producing eco bricks.
These eco bricks are then used when they put up handwashing facilities in their partner schools and institutions.
“To encourage the schools to participate in our project, we select the beneficiaries of our eco handwashing facility based on the schools with the most volume of plastics. It is hitting two birds with one stone. We are able to provide them with handwashing facilities while protecting the environment by upcycling the plastic waste,” Pagkanlungan said.
BWD said it targets to collect a minimum of 1,500 kilos of plastics every year, but because of the participation of schools, it usually surpasses the said target.
Pagkanlungan also shared that aside from schools, they are eyeing to expand their partnership with churches, grocery stores, and malls since these places are frequented by the public.
The water district also conducts its annual clean-up drive in celebration of World Water Day every March.
“Our focus really is on environmental protection. We have one area that is connected with the Angat River. Clean this to ensure that Angat River is not polluted. We partner with the City Environment and Natural Resources Office and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Barangays Poblacion and Tibag for this,” he said.
The water district likewise holds free leak audit and repair every March to schools, institutions, and offices, as part of its CSR activities. (CLJD/MJSC, PIA Region 3-Pampanga)