2019

This is an Entry to the Government Best Practice Recognition Awards

Title

Plastic Palit Lapis Program

Organization

LGU Arteche

Best practice Focus Area(s)

Leadership, Customer and citizen focus

Year Implemented

2018

Summary

To promote proper waste management disposal, The Arteche Municipal Solid Waste Management Board (SWMB) created their flagship program, the Plastic Palit Lapis Program (PPLP), where people collect trash, put them inside 1.5-liter plastic bottles to make eco bricks, and exchange these filled containers for school supplies. 

Currently, 21,086 plastic bottles or 5.271 tons of plastic wastes have been collected so far. These eco bricks mixed with concrete materials were used in creating welcome signages, building a dog impounding shelter, and a Material Recovery Facility for some barangays. This resulted in plastic garbage reduction that provided children with school supplies while inculcating a habit for proper waste disposal.

Background and Problem

The PPLP aims to lessen the plastic waste in the locality of Arteche and instill the behavior of waste segregation and recycling among Artechehanons. Despite the adoption of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Program Ordinance and numerous initiatives like the synchronized OPLAN KALOG (Oplan Linis han Kanal ngan Salog) across all barangays, there was still a noticeable number of plastic trash found in public places, beaches and coastal areas of Arteche. More importantly, the people’s total disregard for waste segregation and rampant improper waste disposal needed urgent correction. The challenge was the scarcity of funds to drive this initiative. Hence, the Arteche Municipal SWMB coordinated with the Local School Board (LSB) and came up with ideas that would drive and engage people to segregate plastic waste and would in turn aid them in the schooling expenses of their children. From these notions, the PPLP was born.

Solution and Impact

For many years, waste segregation was advocated through various information dissemination campaigns with an ordinance in 2006. However, it was not a success. LGU Arteche could not fall blind to the blatant disregard of its people towards proper waste disposal and segregation. The need for an incentive-driven initiative to correct this behavior was necessary. The MSWMB met with the LSB to address this issue and came up with the PPLP and sourced its fund from 20% of EDF and SEF in the purchase of school supplies. A focal person was assigned to ensure the efficient execution of the PPLP. The program was launched through massive information dissemination across all barangays.

The following mechanics were set:

  • Shredded plastics will be stored inside a 1.5-liter plastic bottle until it weighs 1/4 kilo. These bottles can be exchanged with various school items based on the criteria below:
  • 20 bottles: 1 raincoat or 1 umbrella
  • 15 bottles: 1 bag
  • 3 bottles: 1 pad of paper or 1 notebook or 1 crayon
  • 1 bottle. : 1 pencil or 1 ballpen or 1 eraser or 1 sharpener
  • Bonus: Those with ten 1.5 plastic bottles filled with plastic wastes will get a free pair of slippers.

Since its conception, 21,086 plastic bottles or 5,271 kilos of plastic wastes have been collected. Collection and exchange happen on a daily basis for Poblacion Barangays and the focal person visits the other 16 Barangays once every quarter to collect and exchange their plastic bottles with school supplies. These eco bricks are then stored in a ‘greenhouse’ before they are utilized. Outputs of this program so far have been a dog impounding shelter, welcome signages, and a Material Recovery Facility (MRF). Simple as it may sound, this barter system changed the way people throw away their plastic wastes.

Milestones

The following are results of the PPLP:

  1. Developed creativity among local officials in utilizing the plastic wastes collected. Outputs created include Welcome Signages, Material Recovery Facility, and a dog impounding shelter
  2. Collected 5,271 kilos of plastic wastes
  3. Gave 2,882 school supplies to 938 recipients
  4. Notable decrease of plastic trash around the locality especially in beaches/coastal areas

LGU-Arteche is already gearing up for the next steps and has started to implement the banning of Single-Use Plastic in the Municipal Hall through an executive order from the Municipal Mayor, a first step towards a plastic-free community in 2021.