Waste-to-Cash program launched in Manila

MANILA, Philippines — In a move to address the mounting plastic waste crisis, the Plastic Credit Exchange (PCEx), the country’s first homegrown global non-profit plastic offset organization, together with the City of Manila, and with support of the PepsiCo Foundation recently introduced the Aling Tindera Waste-to-Cash program.

Along with their teams, PCEx founder Nanette Medved-Po and Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso signed a memorandum of agreement to roll out 100 network partners over three years covering all of the city’s 897 barangays.

Under the Aling Tindera program, PCEx incentivizes women-owned sari-sari stores to become collection points for post-consumer plastic waste and establishes the community infrastructure for the aggregating, storing, and efficient transport of the waste to partner processing facilities. Among the many benefits of this project are: increased income opportunities for women micro-entrepreneurs and city residents; a more organized informal sector of waste collectors; cleaner environments and improved health.

“We couldn’t be happier to work with the mayor and his team who have passionately demonstrated their commitment to the improvement of Manila. We hope that our program will have a positive impact on the city’s citizens and on the environment that we all share,” Medved-Po said.

Domagoso said he chose to partner with PCEx because the Aling Tindera Program is “applicable, doable, and sustainable.”

“We are very grateful to [PCEx] as it will also generate some income for the community and encourage more sensible and responsible citizens to participate.”

‘Aling Tinderas’ are women sari-sari store owners invited by the City of Manila to partake in this initiative. To jumpstart their new micro-enterprise, PCEx will provide each one with a purposefully designed 20-foot container, one manual baler donated by the PepsiCo Foundation, and starting capital.

The journey from ‘Waste to Cash’ begins in Aling Tindera’s neighborhood, where residual plastic has little to no value and ends up contaminating nature. In response to this challenge, the Aling Tindera container will serve as an aggregation hub where any member of the community may sell post-consumer plastic by the kilogram. Simple bystanders become empowered not only to depollute their environment, but make extra income.

Using the manual baler, Aling Tindera compacts the plastics she buys into blocks that are easier to store and transport. Once she fills up her container, offset partners through PCEx purchase the lot from her and ensure they are processed using environmentally sound technologies.