A private sector-led project initiated a three-day information campaign on solid waste management in five purok in Bancao-Bancao that culminated through a coastal cleanup in Jacana, Barangay Bancao-Bancao, participated by various government agencies and offices.
Project Zacchaeus Cooperative (PZC)-Eco Kolek spearheaded the campaign, “Basura Mo, Basura Ba Talaga?” started on February 8, 2023 and ended on February 10, 2023 through through a coastal cleanup in Jacana, near the fish port. They selected five purok namely Malaya, Maligaya, Bagong Buhay ,Pagkakaisa and Masikap as the site and beneficiaries of their campaign.
PZC partnered with the City Government of Puerto Princesa through the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (City ENRO) for the information campaign, which they campaigned segregation at source, waste recovery and segregated collection, as a means to effectively reduce volume of solid wastes that end up in the city’s sanitary landfill.
During the coastal cleanup in the morning of February 10, 2023, participated by the City ENRO, Philippine National Police, Philippine Coast Guard, and other participants from the barangay, they gathered and collected a total of 115 kgs of solid wastes. Some 22 kgs were immediately recovered and diverted through PZC’s informal waste pickers also known as “Eco-Warriors”,
“Proper waste segregation has been an overlooked issue in our country. There are laws and local ordinances that promote solid waste management; however, the majority of people are not segregating due to various possible reasons they only have one bin at home, are far from Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) or do not have knowledge on proper waste segregation. This issue, if not properly addressed will soon lead us to different environmental problems such as water pollution, soil contamination, loss of biodiversity, and possible threaten public health,” Jan Aldwin Bermeo, Servant Leadership Labs Lead.
Established in 2020, PZC is a grassroots-driven tech company that seeks impact-focused opportunities to eradicate poverty by optimizing innovations and developing a servant leadership culture. The company is a hybrid model community-based driven enterprise registered both as a corporation and cooperative. PZC founder, Mr. John Gastanes and his team created a business model that improve the well-being of the informal waste pickers, at the same time help the City Government of Puerto Princesa for the reduction of its solid wastes.
Through Eco-Kolek project, they introduced an efficient collection of recyclable wastes through clustered door-to-door pick-up via a mobile app and materials recovery services. They also provided ecosystem-registered upcycled bins for waste segregation in the piloted households. They are also providing decluttering and house cleaning services via the app and dropshipping business of Eco Kolek branded upcycled industrial products whether for private or government clients
Since then, PCZ-Eco Kolek took the lead in addressing marine plastic pollution by empowering the informal waste pickers in Puerto Princesa City.