Startup company Closing The Loop (Cloop) Technologies, a social enterprise incubated at the University of the Philippines Diliman UPSCALE Innovation Hub, is now helping communities upcycle plastic wastes into materials for high-value products.
Cloop equipment can upcycle high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastics usually sourced from bottle caps and polypropylene (PP) food containers to produce various types of items, like jewelry beads, tiles, household items, and more.
The social enterprise is dedicated to preserving the environment while providing economic opportunities by helping underserved communities set up small-scale recycling facilities for plastic waste, which community members in need operate as a way to earn a livelihood.
The winning startup at the Philippines’ 1st Climathon in 2019 provides its standard recycling kit that includes a shredder, an extruder, an injection molder, and a compression molder. The startup’s recycling facility is made more accessible by sourcing and designing it with locally available materials.
The tech-based startup company is one of the Technology Business Incubators (TBIs) supported by the Department of Science and Technology’s Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD) in UP Diliman.
DOST Secretary Fortunato de la Pena reported in his recent weekly briefing on October 2, 2020, that Cloop Technologies has partnered with Barangay Pineda and the Pasig City local government to launch its first pilot community recycling enterprise, called a CloopCenter.
The partnership engages the LGU to help mobilize its residents while Cloop Technologies takes charge of providing recycling technology and business support for the community project.
Recent innovations to provide solutions to the Philippines’ plastic waste problem include a Leyte town that built a quarantine facility out of eco-bricks from plastic wastes and Bacolod’s Wala-Usik Sari-sari stores that use non-sachet products to help reduce sea waste.
SEND CHEERS in the comments below to UP Diliman-incubated startup Cloop Technologies that is helping communities upcycle plastic wastes.
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