Residents of Alaminos City, Pangasinan may now exchange recyclable solid wastes for food items after the city government launched Tuesday the “Palit Basura” program to encourage solid waste management and reduce non-biodegradable wastes.

Items accepted for grocery swap include plastic bottles, tin cans, aluminum cans, paper items like coupon bond, assorted papers, or newspapers; tetra packs, PVCs, carton boxes, copper, metals, steels, and even dead vehicle batteries, City Environment and Natural Resources officer-in-charge Rosalie Aruelo said in an interview.

Aruelo said the city government has partnered with a junk shop that also has a grocery store for the program.

“Kung magkano bilihan sa junkshop; kung ano cumulative amount tatapatan (ng) groceries na kapalit (The amount will depend on the prevailing price at junkshops. The cumulative amount of their recyclables will have corresponding grocery food items),” she said.

The junk shop owner will reprocess the collected wastes, which should have been cleaned and dried, into new products, Aruelo said.

Around 30,000 kg. of non-biodegradable waste are being collected in the city daily, she said.

Aruelo said the program is now part of the city’s monthly caravan, wherein services of different departments of the local government are brought to the communities, she added. (PNA)