Nestle, Shell among 18 'green' firms awarded by DENR

MANILA, Philippines - Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, Nestle Philippines, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum and Holcim Philippines are among the 18 companies considered as the "most environmentally responsible" by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
The DENR awarded the 18 firms with the Official Seal of Approval, which is valid for one year, in recognition of their efforts for incorporating green policies across their business operations to help protect the environment.
"The awardees were chosen because of their exemplary environmental performance and for going beyond mere compliance with existing environmental laws and regulations," Environment Secretary Ramon J. P. Paje said, in a statement.
The awards are given under the DENR's Philippine Environmental Partnership Program (PEPP) covers which covers public and private industrial and commercial establishments.
Paje said the PEPP recognizes these companies' policies on self-monitoring and self-regulation.
The 18 awardees have not faced a single complaint before the DENR's Pollution Adjudication Board in the past three years.
As a reward, the DENR will relax its rules on the submission requirements for reports, automatically extend the validity of permits and ease procedures in securing environmental compliance certificates for project expansion of the recipients under PEPP Track 1 category.
There are now a total of 57 PEPP Track 1 awardees since the program started in 2009.