Moms find a living in recycling

Mothers in barangay Canduman, Mandaue City turn trash into bags, wallets, and accessories.

Emma Martacion, 55, a former factory worker thought her family would go hungry when they moved there five years ago after their house in barangay Guizo was demolished.

Emma and 16 other mothers whose families resettled in the area were given a livelihood opportunity with the help of a barangay project and a private partner.

The Canduman Livelihood Center for Women opened in sitio Kobe in 2009. The mothers were taught how to create patterns to sew bags, coin purses, wallets, and other accessories.

Emma earns P800 to P1,000 a week.

“This livelihood program helped me finance our daily needs and partially help in the education of my five children,” Emma said in Cebuano.

Emma and other mothers use scrap fabric from furniture companies around Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu cities. Sacks of cut-out pieces of fabrics are delivered to the center for recylcing.

Jocelyn Francisco, 40, who works with Emma in the center used to work at a canteen.

She decided to stop when she found better work in the center.

The bags are sold for P180-P280 depending on the size while coin purses are P10-P15 each. Private stores and malls come to the center weekly to buy their products by the dozen.

Aside from cut-out pieces of fabric, the center also recycles plastic bags. The plastic bags are first shredded and cleaned before being used as filling for pillows. The pillows with pillow cases are sold for P50 each.

A dozen sacks of shredded and cleaned plastic bags are brought to the center twice a month for recycling.