With a population of 65,000, Malvar is a second-class municipality in Batangas that has experienced rapid urbanization over the years. This resulted in a 25% increase in waste generation, which led to challenges in waste collection and disposal. Of its 3,300 hectares, the municipality only had less than 1,700 hectares of remaining farmlands left, which in turn were surrounded by 3 river systems. This meant that operating a landfill was no longer feasible based on the Land Use Program.
To address this issue, the local government unit of Malvar, while searching for a sustainable and efficient waste disposal solution, first approached ecoloop in 2014. ecoloop is the official resource recovery and co-processing arm of Republic Cement. Co-processing helps reduce wastes that end up in landfills and bodies of water, providing total and complete disposal with no byproducts. Moreover, co-processing reduces the consumption of non-renewable resources of energy, thereby also lowering carbon footprint in the cement manufacturing process. Through its Waste for Cement program, ecoloop offered the Municipality of Malvar a way to dispose of residual plastic wastes in exchange for cement that they can use for environment or social development projects.
Since partnering with Republic Cement in 2014, the Municipality of Malvar has been able to divert over 335 truckloads of baled plastic wastes away from landfills and waterways. The success of this partnership highlights the critical role of barangays in ensuring proper segregation of wastes at source. 4Ps beneficiaries also provided a significant contribution to proper waste segregation and collection, through its community service component. Strong LGU support coupled with consistent information, education, and communication campaigns helped ensure successful implementation at the grassroots level. The LGU also further supported this initiative by hosting contests among participants to raise awareness and encourage residents to participate in proper waste segregation.
Through this partnership, the LGU of Malvar hopes to continue its journey in environmental protection. From its barangays, which play a critical role in ensuring proper waste segregation, to other stakeholders in the municipality, the LGU of Malvar aims to reach its waste diversion targets and do its part in building a greener, Stronger Republic.
