Aling Tindera Receives Support From Oreo Maker

This year, Mondelēz International is sponsoring two new “Aling Tindera” waste to cash program, as part of the Company’s commitment to supporting a more circular economy for plastic. The company’s purpose aligns with this goal, which is to empower people to snack right, with the right snack, for the right moment, and made the right way.

Empowering women entrepreneurs

Aling Tindera, a flagship initiative by HOPE, transforms women micro-entrepreneurs, primarily those running small "sari-sari" stores, into sustainability leaders. The program equips these women with the necessary infrastructure to purchase and collect plastic waste from their communities.

Residents can sell their plastic waste, including sachets that could typically end up in rivers or landfills, to their neighborhood Aling Tindera. These women then clean, bale, and store the plastic in container vans provided by HOPE. Once the containers are full, the plastic is collected for recycling or processing, and the Aling Tindera is compensated for each delivery.

One of the challenges in plastic waste management is the lack of infrastructure for segregation and recycling or upcycling in communities. Through the Aling Tindera program, Mondelēz International is supporting more community-based collection, grounded on income generation for the storeowners.

Impact and future goals

In 2023, Mondelēz International in the Philippines supported the Aling Tindera project by purchasing credits through the PCX Markets platform, funding the collection and diversion of 34,000 kilograms of plastic waste from nature. This initiative generated additional revenue for the women and their communities.

For 2024, Mondelēz International has committed to funding the collection of 150,000 kilograms of plastic waste through the Aling Tindera program and sponsoring the infrastructure for two new sites in its home city of Parañaque.

Creating a circular economy

The Aling Tindera program aims to foster a circular economy by providing incremental income to women micro-entrepreneurs and their communities, promoting behavioral change, and educating the public on responsible plastic waste management. The program, which now includes 138 collection sites across the Philippines supported by various companies, saw a 48 percent increase in average monthly income for its participants for the year 2023, the first year of the implementation of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Law. This law mandates obliged enterprises to be responsible for the plastic packaging they put out in the economy from 20 percent in 2023 to 80 percent in 2028.

Exceeding environmental goals

In 2023, Mondelēz International in the Philippines pledged to collect and divert the equivalent volume of their total plastic packaging used for their brands including Oreo in the Philippines, significantly surpassing the requirement set by the EPR law. The company’s collection and diversion partner PCX Markets estimates that the plastic waste diverted from nature last year was equivalent in weight to 1,800 mid-sized passenger cars.

Lorme Villarba, who has been an “Aling Tindera” in Santa Mesa for four years, shared the program's positive impact on her family. "Our neighbors can sell me plastic trash, like sachets and bottles. We've saved enough to open a school supplies store," she said. "Without Aling Tindera, we wouldn't have been able to expand our store."

Call to action for companies

Companies seeking to complement upstream reduction efforts by funding downstream plastic waste recovery can purchase credits issued by projects like Aling Tindera on PCX Markets. Each credit facilitates the cleanup of one metric ton of plastic pollution. Mondelēz International in the Philippines aims to achieve equivalent plastic waste collection and diversion again this year for its footprint, far exceeding the EPR's 40 percent requirement for 2024. This embodies the company’s commitment to making snacks the right way for everyone.

This article was originally published here in the Manila Bulletin.