UCLM CARES Materials Recovery Facility and the Eco Scholarship

When I assumed the position of Director, Community Awareness, Relations & Extension Services in University of Cebu Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue, Mandaue City, Cebu, Philippines, one of the biggest challenges is to fully implement the Solid Waste Management Program of the university. But with the support of the administration and Mandaue City, Cebu Local Government Unit, our UCLM CARES Materials Recovery Facility became a reality.

Our UCLM CARES Materials Recovery Facility is a 100-square meter facility with 4 rooms. Each rooms has a designation: plastic bottles, papers, boxes and tin cans. These recyclables are sorted from all trash cans in the university and are sold to junk shops in Mandaue City, Cebu. The biodegradables become part of our compost pits.

To assist us in the segregation of recyclables, we hired 20 community residents from Village Looc, Mandaue City. To supervise, the 20 community residents, poor but deserving students in the university were assigned in the Materials Recovery Facility. We called them Eco Scholars. Sales of the recyclables were divided as follows: 50% to Eco Scholarship, 25% to janitors, and 25% to the 20 community residents.

From June 2016 to 2017, we sold P161,000.00 Philippine Pesos or 3,220.00 US Dollars. This has supported the Eco Scholarship of our very first Eco Scholar, Richard Bacus, a Marine Engineering student. As of June 2017, we are supporting three more Eco Scholars.

With the help of our faculty, students, alumni and non-teaching staff, they also donate recyclabes to the Materials Recovery Facility which they collected from their classrooms, offices and homes to support our Eco Scholarship. They also donate clothes, food items and other resources to support the community residents and the Eco Scholars.

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