There’s Gold In Garbage

Avella Lipata used to make the rounds of Makati hotels and offices in her truck to collect waste material. Back at the warehouse of her company, Jaram Hauling Services, she and 10 workers carefully sorted the items that would not be sent to dumpsites, and sold them at competitive prices.

When her story was featured as an exceptional solid waste management initiative, it caught the attention of the Solid Waste Management Program, a collaborative effort of Ayala Foundation and Ayala Land together with Ayala Center Association and the Makati Commercial Estates Association.

The Ayala Center Association had much to gain from implementing a solid waste management program. For a busy commercial district, setting up an organized waste collection and disposal system was not only cost-efficient, but also helped maintain the malls’ standards as premier lifestyle centers. It was at Ayala Center that a pilot waste collection and recycling program began in 1996.

By the time the group contacted Avella’s company two years later, it had reduced the amount of garbage hauled from the malls from 20 trucks to seven trucks a day. Through further segregation, two truckloads of collected materials could still be recovered and sold by Jaram Hauling. The partnership saved the association some P1 million.

To sustain 100% participation, merchants were required to adhere to a "no segregation, no collection" policy in their contract. In support of this, Ayala Foundation holds annual orientation sessions on solid waste ma- nagement. Ayala Property Management Corporation also plays a crucial role in monitoring compliance by all merchants.

Avella herself helps in the enforcement of proper waste segregation by requiring her workers not to accept unsorted garbage and by preparing monthly monitoring and collection reports. Her company even set up its own vermi-composting facility for biodegradable materials to further reduce the wastes that go to landfills.

Through Avella’s participation, Ayala Center was able to generate employment opportunities for at least 20 people assigned at Glorietta and Greenbelt’s materials recovery facilities. To date, results of the monitoring activities show that Ayala Center has reduced its residual waste by as much as 80% since it took Jaram Hauling as its partner.

Avella’s company has also grown with the partnership. Jaram Hauling Services now has 100 employees, a fleet of trucks, and a state-of-the-art waste segregation facility and warehouse and handles hauling and segregation services not only for Ayala’s commercial centers but also select Ayala Land communities.

To formalize the process, a solid waste management manual was drafted to provide guidelines for all merchants. According to Adel Licos, a member of the program’s technical working group, the manual continues to help make sure that these guidelines are consistently followed.

In 2001, the Solid Waste Management Program began to cover the whole of the Makati central business district, home to 365 office and residential buildings. It has one basic requirement: for partners to segregate waste materials from source to disposal. Segregated materials are then transferred to a common storage area where further segregation is done if necessary. From there, the materials are picked up by the recyclers, piggery operators, compost processors, and garbage collectors.

"There are three principles that have made this partnership work," explains Mario Deriquito, director of Ayala Foundation. "First, solid waste management is mandated by law. Second, it is a responsibility to society and the environmental groups’ participation in the program is based largely, if not solely, on this principle. Third, solid waste management makes good business sense. Buildings and establishments believe that ideally it should eventually generate revenues through the sale of recyclables and reduction in waste handling costs. For the collectors, this program is a business opportunity where they can get waste materials in larger quantities and relatively lower prices, if not for free."

From the perspective of environmental advocates, Deriquito adds, solid waste management becomes a responsibility that goes hand-in-hand with doing business.

Through Ayala’s efforts, around 70 percent of the total number of buildings in Makati and 98 percent of the merchants in Ayala Center that participate in the program have reduced residual waste volume, resulting in a recovery of 17,810 tons of recyclable items from 2001 to 2006. This initiative has generated P72 million in revenues.

Ayala’s Solid Waste Management Program has also been a venue for learning by local and international interest groups. The technology is shared with other business centers in Metro Manila. Ayala Center was cited by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the World Bank as the first mall to establish its own compartmentalized materials recovery facility. Further, the Ayala group is strengthening its commitment to enforce the program within its business headquarters and all areas of operation.