Jonathan Co – Entrepreneur Sustainability Leadership Awardee
Project Head, Sentinel Upcycling Technologies
Jonathan’s family has been in the plastic industry for over 58 years. “How did I discover sustainability as my mission? I didn’t, I was born into it!” he said. But did you know that at first, he didn’t realize that they have been practicing sustainability? Jonathan and his family have been doing the circular economy for most of their life in the business that his grandparents started in 1964.
“I just chose to embrace it because there are few opportunities in life and in business where what is good for business can also be good for the environment and the community. I believe this is a mission worth dedicating one’s time to pursuing, making real and growing.” Jonathan added.
For the majority of the life of their company, they have been using thermoplastic, which allows them to take their in-house generated “waste” and reuse it whether it’s for the same product or a different product. When they run out of in-house generated recycled material to make their proprietary products, they will buy from their fellow manufacturers who have excess recyclable materials or from junk shops or specialized plastic recyclers.
And that’s how Sentinel Upcycling Technologies works! They believe that one good way to solve the plastic pollution problem is to create a market where plastics are not considered waste but a monetizable resource instead.
He further explains the two values that their company adds to our current enterprise. First is the active development of single-use packaging — specifically sachets —into a viable substitute for the conventional materials used for making the plastic products that we all use in our daily lives, such as crates, pallets, trolleys, and monobloc furniture. The second way is the development of the plastic component of the post-consumer waste stream as an alternative source for recyclable materials. This involves working with social enterprises, local government units, communities and households, and of course the local junk shops and specialized recyclers.
With that, we asked him what’s the most fulfilling part of the amazing work they do and for him:
Along with this inspiring work done by Sentinel Upcycling Technologies, Jonathan’s vision for a sustainable society is one that realizes that we are all interconnected and that our choices affect others whether for the better or the worse,
As an entrepreneur in the sustainability space, he looks up to David Attenborough, an English broadcaster, author, and natural historian because of his ability to communicate urgent environmental issues to a general audience. This skill of getting through to people, he said, is critical if we are to successfully change people’s view and treatment of recyclable plastics. Not as waste but as a resource.
And to conclude our interview with him, he gave two pieces of advice to fellow people in the plastics industry for us to become sustainability leaders:
- Actively develop good quality products using recycled materials. Recycled materials do not mean inferior products.
- Let’s work together to actively develop post-consumer sources as a viable source of recyclable materials. This means working with communities, social enterprises, local government units, and junk shops to help improve the quality of the sorted, clean and dry recyclable plastics at a price that is competitive with our current industrial sources so they can participate in the current raw material supply chain of our industry.
He, together with his family and colleagues at Sentinel Upcycling Technologies, works to ensure that the plastics manufacturing industry will be able to extend its current circular economy practices to the general public. And they need our help and support.
Visit Sentinel Upcycling Technologies on Facebook!
Meet the 8 Leaders in the 1st Sustainability Leadership Awards
Sustainability UNPLUGGED 2021 is the inaugural summit of SustainablePH, Society of Sustainability Practitioners, SustainablePH Youth, and Christian + Collective, where we brought together sustainability champions in various sectors into a half-day gathering to unplug and celebrate with the nation’s growing sustainability community.
Photo Header by: Giulia Lopez
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Crisyll Torres
Admin and Partnerships Head of SustainablePH
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