Pointwest recognized as ECOSWITCH environmental sustainability awardee

Published on 13 Oct 2011

The European Union's SWITCH-Asia Programme through the "GreenPhilippines Islands of Sustainability" project recognized Pointwest Technologies Corp. (PTC) and Pointwest Innovations Corp. (PIC) as ECOSWITCH awardees for participating in a series of consultations and trainings geared towards pro-active environmental sustainability on a firm level.

ECOSWITCH is premised on a win-win model, the “ECOPROFIT Approach", which correlates a three-fold harmony among ‘Planet, People and Profit’ to demonstrate that there can be a natural link between improving the local environment while earning more profit.

Pointwest is the first IT-BPO company to be accorded the ECOSWITCH award.

Rene Quizon, Executive Director – Business Development, and Chona Ahorro, Head of Human Capital Management, received the award on behalf of PTC while Jowee Reyes, Executive Director – Finance and Administration, and Dennis Sobrepeña, Head of Infrastructure, accepted for PIC.

Over a period of 24 months, various implementing partners such as the Asia Society for Social Improvement and Sustainable Transformation (ASSIST), European chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP), Philippine Business for Environment (PBE), the Technical University of Ostrava (VSB), the Center for appropriate Technology (GrAT) and Austria Recycling (AREC) delivered a combination of training-workshops and consultations on topics such as Cleaner Technology, Industrial Energy Efficiency; Environmental Accounting, Eco-labeling and Ecological Procurement and more, to promote a mindset change among ECOSWITCH program participants, from traditional ways of doing business to cleaner production and consumption marked by efficient material use.

One of the program's basic goals is to reduce pollution and increase resource efficiency levels in specific companies in Metro Manila and its nearby region CALABARZON, since the metropolis is cited as one of the five most polluted cities in the world due to fossil fuel combustion and garbage waste.

According to Sobrepeña, “Progress monitoring is an ongoing effort to clinch advanced certification in successive years and there is still much to be done to lessen carbon footprint”.

Pointwest is the largest wholly Filipino-owned IT-BPO company and it counts environmental sustainability alongside education for the underprivileged among its corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects.