USAID Mall Waste Recovery Program for Residual Plastic Waste

Due to the lack of a cost-effective recovery and diversion system for plastic wastes, plastics leaking into the environment continues to be a problem in the Philippines. Plastic wastes are difficult to recover and recycle because of their structure and require a specific waste processing technology. A consistent supply of clean homogenous waste is necessary to make the recycling of this waste financially viable, making segregation and cleaning key processes to process this waste. This project aimed to enhance the mall waste collection and recovery system to recover suitable waste materials that would otherwise end up in the landfill. The project focused on engaging with mall tenants and housekeeping staff to provide them with the system and capability to handle waste recovery. The duration of the project was supposed to be 12 months (January 2020 – January 2021), however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, restrictions on travel and operations were implemented and impacted the malls’ waste generation rates and types of waste collected. These challenges granted the project a three-month extension until March 2021.