The Sustainable Diner at IDx 2019: Sustainable Consumption and Production
June 2019
A packed crowd inside ASPACE Philippines as they listen to the roundtable discussion focusing on the circular economy in the Philippines. Photo © Design Center of the Philippines
Last June 29, 2019, The Sustainable Diner: A Key Ingredient for Sustainable Tourism, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Philippines’ pioneer project on sustainable consumption and production, was invited to speak at IDx 2019: Responsible Consumption and Production. Held at ASPACE Philippines and in celebration of World Industrial Design Day, the event aims to address SDG 12 through a series of thought-provoking discussions on the circular economy. Organized by the Design Center of the Philippines, IDx is a new platform for different creative voices to come together and realize a shared vision of a better world.
Together with professionals and thought leaders passionate about circular economies, Alexa Jeanne Lasch, The Sustainable Diner project’s Sustainable Business Specialist, participated in a roundtable discussion designed to address specific issues on how circular economy should be framed locally here in the Philippines. Moderated by Carlo Delantar of Altum, who earlier gave a talk on Circular Economy 101, the discussion delved deep into what circular economy is and how we can apply and implement it in the local setting, given that practical applications already exist in Southeast Asia and Europe. The concept of closing the loop in various industries such as fashion and textiles, as well as waste management, was also shared by the other esteemed speakers.
Alexa Jeanne Lasch, The Sustainable Diner project’s Sustainable Business Specialist, shares how WWF-Philippines has been helping promote a more circular economy in the F&B industry through food waste management initiatives and interventions. Photo © Design Center of the Philippines
For her part, Lasch focused on the local food service industry through the efforts and interventions made by The Sustainable Diner project. Inarguably, the local Food and Beverage (F&B) industry contributes significantly to the food waste and plastics problem being experienced in the country. Food packaging and single-use plastics, in particular, come to mind as pain points for the industry in their journey towards waste reduction. “Waste audit and characterization across the value chain should be done in order for F&B companies to develop and implement the necessary waste management frameworks for each type of waste”, said Lasch. “For F&B companies, food waste is one of the major solid wastes that they have to deal with on a daily basis. We categorize food waste into what we call pre-service and post-service waste, and it is important for these to be tracked through a well-established food waste management system, implemented by an internal task force within their properties”. Lasch also shared how The Sustainable Diner project conducts seminars and training sessions for F&B companies, particularly restaurants and hotels, to provide recommendations on how they can reduce their food and overall waste.
The moderator and speakers for the roundtable discussion comprised of (L-R) Rolyn Lomosco, Senior Researcher-Design Innovation from the Design Center of the Philippines, Maria Rita Matute, Executive Director of the Design Center of the Philippines, Richard Lemen, General Manager of Envirotech Waste Recycling Inc., Carlo Delantar, Co-Founder of Altum, Director Celia Elumba of the DOST-Philippine Textile Research Institute, Alexa Jeanne Lasch of WWF-Philippines, and Angela Chen, Principal of East Circular. Photo © Design Center of the Philippines
According to Delantar, being truly circular means to adhere to at least two out of the three Circular Economy Principles: (1) design out waste and pollution, (2) keep products and materials in use, and (3) regenerate natural systems. Through The Sustainable Diner project, we hope to help F&B companies apply these sustainable principles in their operations so we can all contribute to the promotion of circular economies in the different industries here in the Philippines. We thank the Design Center of the Philippines for inviting us to be a part of this very worthwhile discussion!
The Sustainable Diner project, under WWF-Philippines’ Sustainable Consumption and Production, is part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI). The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety (BMU) supports this initiative on the basis of a decision adopted by the German Bundestag.
For more information, please contact:
Melody Melo-Rijk
Project Manager
mmelorijk@wwf.org.ph
For media arrangements, please contact:
Pamela Luber
Integrated Marketing Communications Specialist
pluber@wwf.org.ph
Lorayne Roque
Sustainable Consumer Specialist
lroque@wwf.org.ph
