Ayala Foundation | Ayala Land, Inc.
Avella Lipata started as a small entrepreneur, providing waste collection and disposal services to Makati hotels with the use of one truck. After a broadsheet featured her story as an exceptional solid waste management initiative, Lipata's modest company caught the attention of the Solid Waste Management Program, a collaborative effort of Ayala Foundation and Ayala Land together with Ayala Center Association and the Makati Commercial Estates Association.
Boosted by the support of the Ayala Foundation, Avella made a leap of faith and expanded her company, Jaram Hauling Services, from a 10-person organization to one with 100 employees, a fleet of trucks, and a state-of-the-art waste segregation facility and warehouse. It now handles hauling and segregation services for Ayala's commercial centers and select Ayala communities.
Another success story is that of Nila Cabrera and her barangay. Located along the fringes of an Ayala development project in Cebu, Barangay Luz was one of Cebu's most depressed communities—a breeding ground for group conflicts and crippling poverty.
However, things changed for the better under the leadership of Cabrera, the barangay's councilor and homeowners cooperative president. Kwarta sa Basura, an innovative community-based savings mobilization strategy through waste recovery was set in place.
Through its weekly waste collection activities, the cooperative earned over P200,000. It then ventured into vermin composting, generating an income of P100,000. Membership in the cooperative matched the phenomenal increase in income. From 40 members and a capital of P12,000 in 1996, it has since grown to 2,000 members and has a net worth of over P3 million. It is now able to provide rental housing facilities and services to its members. With the impending closure of the landfill in Cebu, the program is providing the city government with a more sustainable and environment-friendly alternative for waste disposal.
These two success stories are examples of how income can be derived from garbage. They also spring from unlikely places. The Ayala Foundation is proud to be part of these environmental endeavors that demonstrate of the power of entrepreneurship.
