In its commitment to contribute to the preservation of the environment and provide efficient service to tenants, merchants and customers alike, Ayala Land's Ayala Malls Group, through the Ayala Center Association (ACA) continues to develop innovative ways in promoting the ecological solid waste management (SWM) in Glorietta and Greenbelt Complex.
Ayala Center's SWM program has been running for a decade now, starting with the pilot implementation of polystyrene and plastic waste collection and recycling in 1996 through the collaborative efforts of Ayala Center Association, Ayala Foundation, Inc., Barangay San Lorenzo and Polystyrene Packaging Council of the Phils. Designed as a campaign to contribute in the further reduction of solid wastes that go to the landfill, the SWM program was launched among all the 1,000+ merchants of Ayala Center.
Among the activities conducted include a continuing series of orientation sessions on SWM, dissemination of circulars on the guidelines of waste segregation at source and disposal system, setting up of a compartmentalized depository or materials recovery facility (MRF), strict monitoring and spot checks of the solid wastes brought to the MRF and publication of a documentation of SWM practices by selected tenants.
For Ayala Center, the primary gain from implementing a SWM program is the installation of a systematic, organized and cost-efficient system of managing solid wastes for such busy commercial district.
In 1998, Ayala Center generated an average volume of 80 tons of waste per day. The provision of a separate area for recyclables diverted about 45% of the waste from the mega compactor that brought the wastes directly to the dumpsite. The segregated recyclables were then donated to AFI-recommended community-beneficiary who was able to gain additional average monthly income of P8,000.
From 20 trucks of wastes being hauled per day, the daily hauling was also drastically reduced to an average of 6 to 7 trucks when ACA got Jaram Hauling Corp. as its partner contractor in solid waste collection and disposal. Through further segregation, 2 truckloads of the wastes collected could still be recovered and sold by Jaram at competitive prices. Given the reduced hauling requirement, the cost of hauling was negotiated by ACA at 33% lower than the on-going collection cost per truck. This is translated to a savings of about P1 million in operational cost.
To sustain 100% participation, Ayala Center integrated the policy on "no segregation, no collection" in the contract with the merchants. In support of this, an annual orientation on SWM is held with the assistance of Ayala Property Management Corp. (APMC) and Ayala Founation (AFI). APMC also plays a crucial role in the monitoring of compliance by all merchants.
The increased awareness of merchants on proper waste segregation enabled them to earn some income from the proceeds of recyclables that they sell to their own contact buyers. Such practice displaced the community beneficiary who could no longer get a good volume of recyclables. However, he was employed by Jaram as one of its employees assigned in the maintenance of the Ayala Center MRF.
Jaram, as partner in the SWM program, also helps in the enforcement of proper waste segregation by refusing to accept unsorted wastes and prepares monthly monitoring and collection reports. Jaram has set up a vermi-composting facility for biodegradable materials, thus reducing further the solid wastes that go to the landfill. Through Jaram, Ayala Center's SWM program is able to generage employment opportunities to at least 20 people assigned at Glorietta and Greenbelt's MRF. Jaram's own MRF in San Mateo, Rizal also employs at least 50 people doing further segregation and consolidation of recyclable materials.
To date, results of monitoring activities show that Ayala Center was able to reduce its residual waste by as much as 80% since it took Jaram as partner in the strict implementation of segregated collection and disposal. Participation rate of tenants was recorded at 100% with a compliance rate of 98%. Diversion rate was recorded at 42% with the recovery of 11,659 tons of recyclables, 8,623 tons of food wastes and 6,231 tons of compostable materials. The recovered recyclable materials were valued at P41.765M from 2001 to 2006.
To ensure sustainability of the Ayala Center's SWM program, a Technical Working Group (TWG) was formed, composed of Col. Wency Cruz and Ms. Lilia Sesperes of ACA, Ms. Adel Licos of AFI, Engr. Erickbeth Calupe of APMC and Ms. Avella Lipata of Jaram. In addition to the consistent and continuous monitoring and information campaign activities, the TWG also spearheaded the drafting of the Ayala SWM manual that will serve as guide for SWM program implementation.
Ayala's SWM program has been a venue for learning by several interest groups, including local and international SWM training program participants, as well as subject of case presentations in some local and international conferencese on SWM. This year, Ayala Center was cited by DENR and World Bank as the first mall to establish its own compartmentalized MRF.
