Quezon province gov’t turns trash into rice

WEIGH IN. A woman in Tayabas City watches as officials weigh her collected plastic waste, which will be exchanged for rice under the project “Palit Basura Caravan” by the local government unit. PHOTO: Tayabas City PIO

LUCENA CITY — The residents of Tayabas City in Quezon province turned over more than 6,000 kilos of plastic waste to the local government in exchange for rice, the city Public Information Office (PIO) reported on Wednesday (July 5).

The city PIO said 6,090 kilos of assorted recyclable plastic waste were collected from residents, schools, and local government offices during the “Palit Basura Caravan” held on June 30.

“The exchange rate was one kilo of rice for every two kilos of trash,” the PIO explained. A kilo of plastic waste is worth P5 in the local junk shop.

A total of 3,045 kilos of rice were distributed to those who turned over their recyclable garbage during the caravan.

The PIO, citing information from the General Services Office-Environmental Solid Wastes Management Unit, said the volume of waste being exchanged during every caravan continued to increase.

Last month, the LGU collected 1,456 kilos of plastic waste and in April, they got 615 kilos of recyclable trash.

“This is a positive indication of the growing awareness of the people of Tayabas about the importance of waste segregation and environmental conservation,” the PIO said.

The project was initiated by the late mayor Ernida Reynoso in 2020 to encourage residents to dispose of their waste properly.

The project is being continued by her daughter, Mayor Lovely Reynoso-Pontioso, the present city chief executive.

The collected plastic waste will be transported to a garbage recycling plant in Antipolo City.

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