The Manila Electric Company (Meralco) is seeking more individuals to join the Quezon City government’s waste reduction program that allows the trading of recyclable materials in exchange for points, which can, in turn, be used to pay utility bills.
The Trash-to-Cashback Program is an initiative of the Quezon City local government unit, in partnership with bXTRA Philippines Inc. and Basic Environmental Systems and Technologies (BEST) Inc.
Meralco and Bayad, its payment services company, partnered with the Quezon City LGU for this program in December 2021.
“Some eco-warriors not living in QC participated in the program and made use of our drop-off locations to avail of the environmental points conversion for their utility bills, particularly their Meralco bill,” said Meralco Kamuning-Roosevelt Business Center Head Agnes Macob.
Meralco’s Business Centers in Kamuning, Commonwealth, and Novaliches serve as drop-off points for recyclable materials and have collected a total of 2,015 kilograms of paper, plastic, and metal from December 2021 to June 2022.
The total waste collected was converted into 6,865 environmental points, and were used by 59 eco-warriors to pay their utility bills in Bayad storefronts located at Ever Gotesco-Commonwealth, and Barangays Gulod and Sauyo in Novaliches.
With the success of the initial run, the program was extended from March 2022 to December 2022. With this extension, Meralco seeks to encourage more eco-warriors to participate in the program.
“With the success of our partnership with the Quezon City LGU, we hope that other LGUs will be inspired to adopt this program, to realize its positive impact on the government’s waste reduction efforts, and to embed sustainability in the hearts and minds of their constituents. We wish to acknowledge our Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte for her unwavering support to this initiative, and to encourage other companies to take part in this program,” said Meralco First Vice-President and Chief Commercial Officer, and Head of Customer Retail Services Ferdinand Geluz.
Meralco’s participation in the Trash-to-Cashback Program supports and promotes the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 on Sustainable Cities and Communities, and SDG 12 on Responsible Consumption and Production.