Cash For Your Trash

Hidden in the dark corners of most households is at least one broken appliance, any number of dead batteries, an outdated computer perhaps, plastic bottles and aluminum cans a-plenty, among other stuff not thrown out in the common belief that it might be of some use…someday.

Being a "junkie" is a hard habit to break. But even if we want to, most of us wouldn’t know where to go to properly dispose of all our junk. Well, wonder no more.

At the open parking lot of Goldcrest in Ayala Center Makati, banners with catchphrases like "Kick the habit" and "Don’t be a junkie!" announce a unique market held there once a month. It is a waste trading market, where people trade in their trash for cash.

"The idea of the waste market is to provide a regular, convenient and accessible venue for average shoppers," says Lisa Antonio, executive director of the Philippine Business for the Environment (PBE) which sponsors the event.

"Cash for your trash" is the market’s concept, as PBE encourages the public to stop cramming their homes with junk, some of which may be health hazards, such as computers and batteries dismantled by the untrained and unsuspecting.

Metro Manila generates 6,700 metric tons of waste each day, 75 percent of which is recyclable, according to PBE. But so far, only 13 to 35 percent is actually recycled, so bringing in the professionals to handle your junk may not be such a bad idea.

"It’s not so much the economic value but its value to the environment," Antonio points out, as she cites that 1,650 seven-year-old trees have been saved since 2002 when the Recyclables Collection Event or RCE began, which grew into today’s waste trading market.

The RCE started with PBE and the Ayala Foundation collaborating to mark Earth Day in the month of April. An exhibit on recycling was held once a year and later expanded to a "more interactive and pro-active" waste trading activity. 2006 was a banner year for the recycling fair.

At the waste trading market, traditional and nontraditional wastes are weighed at buying stations of recyclers. The RCE mainly targets institutional, commercial and industrial establishments. "But from experience, ordinary people come here also with traditional wastes like paper, plastic, cans, etc. so we also invite recyclers that collect these traditional waste," Antonio explains.

Traditional wastes like newsprint are bought for about P5 per kilo while old corrugated cartons are P3.50 a kilo. Aluminum cans are traded for P55 per kilo, disposable cups at P10 and polyethylene therephthalate (PET) plastics are P15 per kilo. Nontraditional junk such as ink/ toner cartridges range between P90 to P340 per kilo. Old electronics and electrical equipment like computers and appliances as well as an assortment of batteries, mainly the lead-acid type, are also accepted for recycling.

Used oil like engine and cooking oil are not brought to the market site. Instead, the volume and source of this nontraditional waste are registered during the event then an arrangement for subsequent collection is made. The traded used oil can be recycled into lower grade oil or even soap. Recycling junk styrofoam is not cost effective, explains Antonio, but it can still be disposed off at market sites. "In recycling styrofoam, there’s more expense for recyclers than earnings, but they will take it off your hands."

Furthermore, drop off areas are assigned to wastes that cannot be traded because of "low commercial value," such as cellphones and celphone batteries because there is no recycling facility in the Philippines for these have to be shipped abroad.

What is recycling? It is when junked materials are reprocessed to become new products. It is not the same as reusing old stuff that may only need cleaning. Recycling prevents waste from filling up landfills. According to the PBE, "some 4,300 metric tons of recyclable, reusable and economically valuable materials literally go to waste everyday, further adding to our worsening waste disposal problem."

Emy Aguinaldo, deputy executive director of the National Solid Waste Management Commission secretariat, points out that the law requires 25 percent waste diversion for all local government units.

"This means 25 percent of their total waste should no longer go to dumpsites, but rather be disposed of through recycling or composting," says Aguinaldo.

In Metro Manila, Aguinaldo notes that a waste analysis and characterization study of the Asian Development Bank shows that 50 percent of the metropolis’ total waste is biodegradable.

The law, she adds, also requires segregation at source and during collection. But as we all know, this is hardly practiced.

"Households note that even when they segregate, the wastes are collected all at once. It defeats the purpose of segregating at source," Aguinaldo stresses.

In the years that the RCE project has been ongoing, PBE reports that the volume of collected recyclables has reached approximately 1,126 cubic meters or equivalent to 112 ten-ton dump trucks, with an estimated monetary value of around P1.7 million.

Translating this into environmental benefits, Antonio explains that they arrived at the figure of 1,650 seven-year-old trees saved by using a conversion formula wherein every ton of newspaper recycled is equivalent to a certain amount of raw materials–in this case trees–not used. The PBE reports that more than 84,000 kilos of newspapers have so far been collected.

The RCE encourages large insti-tutional, commercial and industrial establishments whose nature of business results in large volumes of recyclable wastes to get involved. Over the years, participants of the RCE include manufacturing plants, industrial estates, shopping malls, government agencies and even schools.

The Ayala Group, which has its own solid waste management program for its commercial centers and the Makati central business district, is pushing for segregation at source, segregated collection and proper waste disposal.

One of its most significant results is the 77 percent diversion of total waste collected, says Adelia Licos, senior development associate at Ayala Foundation Inc.

"From 80 tons a day or 20 trucks, it went down to 18 tons or seven trucks," says Licos.

Recycling is not only about waste reduction, according to Antonio. "There is the resource side. These materials are needed by our fledging local recycling industry." Rather than using virgin material to, for example, make new batteries, the recovered lead from scrap batteries can be used.

"With an accredited facility that has an investment in the technology, the recovery rate is 90 percent or even higher of lead," she explains. "The acid in the battery which cannot be recycled has to be treated and has to pass certain standards, which is being monitored by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), before it is discharged into the water body."

On the other hand, a "backyard type of recycler" does it manually, she adds. "The recovery rate (of lead) is low. What happens with the rest of the lead? It leaks out. More importantly, what do they do with the acid? They just pour it on the ground."

PBE reports that 8,500 kilos of toxic substances have been treated from the RCE program. As safety is paramount not only to our surroundings but to the persons handling the materials, the PBE taps the Philippine Recyclers Inc. (PRI) for its RCEs and the PRI has battery consolidators that collect and sell them recyclable junk.

Pioneer organizers in the RCE’s first year include the Laguna Lake Development Authority, Baguio and Metro Manila. Other local governments later followed, like Quezon City, Cebu City, and La Trinidad in Benguet as well as associations such as the Pollution Control Association of the Phil. in the Cordillera Autonomous Region, the Phil. Exporters’ Confederation in Cebu and the Environmental Practitioners Association.

Big companies like ABS-CBN and the Lopez Group companies, MetroBank, and Toyota have organized RCEs. Antonio hopes to encourage more establishments, industries and the general public to get involved.

With help from the National Solid Waste Commission, which is under the DENR’s Environmental Management Bureau (EMB), the PBE carefully scrutinizes recyclers willing to participate in the RCE as well as aspiring organizers.

RCE organizers can either be public or private entities that advocate Solid Waste Management or recycling. They act as catalyst in their area and serve as venue host for the events.

Recyclers must have a good track record "because for each type of recycling, there are environmental concerns. If we can invite recyclers that are certified ISO 1400–meaning they meet international environmental standards–then we do so. You just don’t take the word of the recycler that they are doing it right," Antonio points out, adding that they visit recycling facilities together with representatives from the EMB.

The PBE is a non-stock, non-profit organization that assists Philippine businesses in addressing environmental issues and concerns, citing the community’s unique and important role in providing solutions to the country’s environmental problems.Antonio says more work needs to be done in recycling, especially since there’s a lot more we don’t know about the market.

"There really isn’t a comprehensive database yet to know exactly the potential of the market," she says, noting however a current study being conducted by the Board of Investments on the market of recyclable materials in the Philippines. She says the study also has to consider other factors, including the Filipino habit of not throwing away stuff that don’t work.

So next time you’re tempted to say, "Sayang, baka magamit pa," head for the waste market instead and turn your trash into cash.

Waste markets are held every first Friday of the month at the Goldcrest open parking area in Ayala Center, Makati, and every third Friday of the month at the Ayala Alabang Town Center parking lot. For details, contact the Philippine Business for the Environment secretariat at tel 635-3670 or 635-2650.