Philips Consumer Electronics Company's Mexican group, Productos de Consumo Electrónicos Philips (PCEP) has developed a program in Ciudad Juárez Chihuahua which uses non-hazardous waste materials from its facilities in a beneficial way for the community. Not only does this program reduce waste from the facilities, it provides housing for those who might not otherwise have it.

• PCEP manufactures televisions and other consumer electronic products. Many of the components for these products are sent to PCEP packed in wooden crates, shrink-wrapped to wooden or metal pallets and/or packaged in styrofoam. Rather than dispose of these materials in a landfill, PCEP looked into the community to see if these materials could be used to benefit the community. The answer was yes, and the PCEP building program was begun.

• Infrastructure in the border zone, especially housing and general utility services, has not been able to keep up with economic growth. One of the consequences of this lag is the colonies, essentially shanty towns where people may live in cardboard houses with no running water. PCEP decided to donate the wooden and metal pallets, the wood from the crates, cardboard from packaging and styrofoam, to needy families for use in home building in the colonies. The metal pallets form the framework of the houses, the wood is used for the rest of the construction, and the styrofoam is used for insulation. Workers from PCEP donate their time and aid in the building of these structures.

• In addition to the building program, PCEP has organized a water distribution program. Old plastic containers from water coolers and new, clean plastic drums are filled wtth potable water and taken to the colonies for distribution to the residents, many of whom do not have running water or close access to drinking water. Again, PCEP's workers volunteer their time in this program.