By Roderick L. Abad
CEMENT company Lafarge Republic Inc. (LRI) was recently cited at the 2015 Asia Responsible Entrepreneurship Awards for its continuous environmental commitment.
Through its collaborative reforestation program, the company had already planted 425,000 trees in various communities in about 850 hectares situated near its facilities.
The company is set to expand the planting of more trees to additional areas by 2020.
The company’s winning “Beyond the National Greening Program” received the Green Leadership Award, which is yet another testament to its constant effort to place sustainability at the core of its operations, according to LRI President Renato C. Sunico.
“This achievement underscores our commitment to a greener, more sustainable future,” he said of the three-year project that also aims to give livelihood opportunities for over 400 families living in the communities through produce derived from fruit-bearing trees and intercropped plants.
The program is an extension of LRI’s participation in the National Greening Program, which seeks to plant 1.5 billion trees in 1.5 million hectares all over the country to attain sustainable human development and ecological security.
Cementing alliance with various stakeholders, the company worked closely with regulatory agencies, national and local government representatives and various people’s organizations (POs).
They identified four reforestation areas nationwide, such as the Ipo Dam and Mount Balagbag in Central Luzon (400 hectares); Calawis, Antipolo City in Calabarzon (300 hectares); Asturias, Cebu in Central Visayas (50 hectares) and Baungon, Bukidnon in Northern Mindanao (100 hectares).
Through this project, 400 employees and business partners were mobilized to join the country-wide tree-planting activity in July 2013.
Also, the company has been continuously working with the POs and the respective Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Offices to monitor the growth and health of the covered areas and guarantee a 90-percent survival rate for the trees.
“We continue to leverage on our tradition of forging impactful partnerships as collaborative stewardship among different stakeholders is key in ensuring that target results are met,” Sunico said.
The annual Asia Responsible Entrepreneurship Awards, which is now on its third year, is organized by Enterprise Asia in honor of business organizations within the region that champion sustainable and responsible entrepreneurship in six categories.
These are green leadership, investment in people, health promotion, social empowerment, small and medium enterprises, corporate social responsibility and responsible business leadership.
Beyond its good practice of corporate citizenship, LRI has risen to the challenge posed by the economy’s sustained growth by providing the market with its advanced building materials and eco-friendly solutions.
To date, it has developed Kapit-Balay, a special cement variant that lowers the carbon footprint of the production process by using fly ash from coal-fired power plants while enhancing the quality of concrete.
While it helps protect the environment, this product also addresses the need of non-governmental organizations, state agencies and local government units for low-cost, high-quality cement in their post-Yolanda reconstruction initiatives.
Also launched in the domestic market is the Bio Roof—an improved green-building solution that helps lessen the negative effects of urban land use.
Publicly listed LRI is mainly involved in the manufacture, development, exploitation and sale of cement, marble and all other classes and kinds of building materials, and the processing or manufacture of materials for any industrial or commercial purposes.