By Marianne V. Go Updated July 22, 2009 12:00 AM [ philstar.com ]
MANILA, Philippines - Retail giant SM Supermalls continues to enjoy double digit growth in spite of the global recession Annie S. Garcia, president of Shopping Center Management Corp. (SCMC), said yesterday.
SCMC oversees the 35 SM Supermalls located all over the country.
In a press briefing yesterday, Garcia said the SM Supermalls posted a growth of slightly less than 10 percent in the first half of this year.
Without giving specific figures, Garcia said the group has been able to post double digit growth because of its constant effort to meet the demands of customers.
One such effort is its “SM Cares” program which incorporates more “green” areas into the retail space; environmental projects to improve and conserve energy, reduce and recycle waste; and improve the delivery of services to women and children, people with disabilities and to overseas Filipino workers and tourists.
The SM Cares program, Garcia explained, consolidates all of SM prime Holdings, Inc.’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives.
SM Supermalls, started its “greening” program about three years ago with the SM Southmall in Alabang by changing the previous dark and box-like configuration of the mall to incoporate more natural light into the structure.
Green spaces have now been incorporated, Garcia said, as seen in the Mall of Asia. Recently, SM City North Edsa unveiled its Sky Garden which incorporates a garden and water feature into the retail area.
Garcia said the Sky Garden, features restaurants that offer more grill items and provide outdoor dining. It also offers a green pocket area in an otherwise completely build-up area, she added.
Aside from the cosmetic infrastructure, Garcia said the SM Supermalls seriously implements a solid waste management program, a water conservation program and energy and air quality efficiency program that almost halved the retail giants energy costs and lessened its waste output.
Raffy Maglalang, mall manager of SM Supermalls, said the MOA, SM Mega Mall and SM Cebu produce about four tons of garbage a day, while the smaller malls generate about one ton a day.
Following the implementation of the solid waste management program which involves waste segregation, the amount of garbage generated by the malls has been reduced by 30 percent.
The waste segregation involves the “Trash to Cash Recycling Market” which encourages the mall’s tenants as well as the public to segregate their trash and sell recyclable materials such as scrap paper, cardboard, aluminum and tin cans to recyclers, thus also lessening the overall garbage.
In terms of energy efficiency and savings, Garcia said SM Supermalls, has spent P300 million to implement a Focus Enterprise Building Management System that controls the airconditioning of the various malls.
Likewise, SM Supermall conserves energy by using energy-efficient lighting equipment which has resulted in a 67-million kilowatt savings, Garcia said.
To encourage its customers to contribute to its environment-saving program, SM Supermalls, along with its affiliates SM Department Stores, SM Supermarkers, SM Hypermarket and SaveMore, has introduced its reusable green bags which lessens the use of plastic bags.
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