Irisan barangay is leading the way in the Circular Economy or Pansa-nopen Tayo recyclable collection program.
Irisan along with barangays Gibraltar, Guisad Central, Bakakeng Central, Dominican Mirador and Happy Hollow is serving as pilot areas of the plastics circularity component of the Bida sa Barangay portfolio under the the city’s Circular Economy program.
The barangay led by punong barangay Arthur Carlos has completed and rolled out its own scheme with systems for collection, segregation and sorting and cash back mechanism.
The system comes with a proper schedule, manpower and required infrastructure like the materials recovery facility. The barangay also came up with a partnership with a junkshop for the cash back scheme.
A series of dry runs was conducted and showed promise income-wise for the barangay, according to Asst. General Services Officer Margie Della.
Another pilot barangay, Guisad Central, is in the process of trying out its colleciton scheme and the remaining four are in the process of completing their own solid waste management plans.
Mayor Benjamin Magalong earlier directed the fastttacking of the system to set in motion the recyclable collection program which aims to streamline the collection of recyclables, encourage community participation and reduce waste sent to landfills.
Aside from the barangay solid waste management plans and schedules, the pilot areas are required to have their own materials recovery facilities, available manpower, memoranda of agreement with junkshops and a budget for fuel and maintenance.
City Planning Development and Sustainability Office Head and Local Circular Economy Action Team (LCEAT) Action Officer, Arch. Donna Tabangin said a monitoring system was adopted, which will cover the establishment of recyclable collection points, engagement with Extended Producer Responsibility-accredited companies, and a tracking system to measure the volume of recyclables of each barangay.
The recyclable waste collection program, along with the other projects under the city’s Bida Barangay, Green Tourism, and Green Education Circular Economy portfolios, is being supported by the European Union Philippines-Green Economy Program and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The EU-GEPP earlier donated six utility vans to the City Government for use in the plastics circularity aspect, including the recyclable waste collection project.
The UNDP also provided funds to the Zero Waste Coalition, a private partner of the city, to conduct a Waste Analysis and Characterization Survey (WACS) on the waste generated in the pilot barangays.** Aileen P. Refuerzo
