A SMALL and medium enterprise (SME) in Negros Occidental is now a licensee of the Technological University of the Philippines-Visayas (TUP-V) for compact glass crusher technology.
A non-exclusive licensing agreement was signed between the Tumandok Crafts Industries and TUP-V on October 23, 2021.
During the signing of the agreement, Tumandok was represented by its chief executive officer, Josephine Locsin, while TUP-V was represented by Dr. Jesus Rodrigo Torres, president of the institution's system.
TUP-V Campus Director Dr. Eric A. Malo-oy and Intellectual Property and Tech Transfer Manager Engineer Gregorio Crisostomo were also present.
Locsin acknowledged the timeliness of the partnership with TUP-V in the development of the compact glass crusher in order to answer her problem in the disposal of glass wastes in her factory.
She saw the opportunity of helping local government units (LGUs) in their material recovery facilities by deploying glass crusher machines to manage their glass waste materials.
Torres encouraged the faculty and student-researchers of the TUP-V to think of innovative ways on how to solve proper disposal of solid wastes that could also mitigate global warming.
The TUP-V official made predictions that the world will be entirely different 30 years from now due to technological innovations.
The compact glass crusher technology aims to reduce the number of glass wastes, specifically those that are not returned to bottling companies, broken glass sheets and broken bottles and only filling up the landfills, he added.
The school president said this technology will play a significant role in the circular economy, a sustainable approach for better waste management, and create more green jobs in the community.
This is the first technology developed by a Negros-based Higher Education Institution (HEI) adopted by an industry partner through technology transfer, the school said in a statement.
It added that the enactment of the Technology Transfer Law, or Republic Act 10055, in 2009 gave the government the renewed impetus to encourage the commercialization of research outputs from HEI and universities funded by the government through technology transfer.
With this, researchers are given the opportunity to explore entrepreneurial pursuits and provide support for the social and economic development of the community by creating new job opportunities, it added.