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By DJ YaP
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WEDNESDAY/ MARCH 27' 2019
A kilo ofrice for a kilo oftrash'
WWW.INQUIRER.NET
Aansat TaYo ReP Neil AbaY-
on offered the incentive in a bill
he filed on Morday to boost ef-
forts to segregate recYclable
plasrics and other garbage and
help reduce the country s sollo
'waste Problem.
House Bill No. 9Uo sets a
"minimum ex-change value" for
one ldlo of nonhaz-
ardous and recyclable A2

courage waste "This is what we envision ent-teacher associations, home-

plastic waste that can be
swappeh for one kilo of com-
mercial quality rice, groceries
and other basic consumer
goods, or their cash equivalent.
on the other hand, one kilo
of metallic, nonhazatdous, re-
cyclable waste can be ex-
changed for z kilos of commer-
cial quality rice or its cash
equivalent.
"It is not enough that we aP-
peal to Fitipinos to return their
plastic bottles and wrappers,
and other solid waste to re-
demption centers. The thought
of having to go back to the store
carrying a load or bags of recy-
clable solid waste is not an at-
tractive proposition," AbaYon
said in a statement.
Well-motivated
"However; when that
prospect is matched and re-
warded, consumers wiU think
twice, especially when the re-
ward is enticing like one kilo of
commeicial rice for every kilo
ofplastic waste deposited at the
redemption center," he added.
such incentives would en-
segregation
among consumers, he said.
"They will have a bag or bo;r
in the kitchirn or sala where
they will collect all plastic bot-
tles, wrappers and containers.
They wiu not mix their recy-
clable waste with their food
waste," said Abayon, who is al-
so House minority deputY lead-
er.
He predicted that. most
would begin setting
households
aside their disposables ina large
bag and go to the nearest mate-
rials recovery hub to exchange
their junk and waste for cash or
goods.
will happen when this bill .is
enacted into law. A whole na-
tion actively engaged in segre-
gating and iecycling their
waste because they are well-
motivated to d.o so," AbaYon
added.
Collaboration
The bitt mandates the De- parts.
partment of Environment and
Natural Resources to collabo-
rate with the Department of
Agriculture and the Department
of Trade and Industry to en-
courage ind,ividuals, house-
holds,. cividi psociations, Par-
owners associations, and non-
profits to gather nonhaz ardous
and recyclabte solid waste.
These include Plastic bot-
tles, wrappers, bags, sachets,
metal canisters, damaged and
used electrical and electronic
devices, discarded hardware
and recyclable comPuter
For the recovery of Poten-
tially hazardous waste, an inter-
ageniy collectidn system will be
created, through which individ-
uals may report the exact loca-
tion and details of the trash.
tNq Neil Abayon

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