From garbage to livelihood: Barangay Potrero shows waste management can empower communities
What if the things we throw away could help create jobs, support families, and make communities cleaner?
This was the question that guided the benchmarking visit of the Local Government Unit (LGU) of La Trinidad, Benguet, together with the Department of Science and Technology–Cordillera Administrative Region (DOST-CAR) Baguio-Benguet Provincial Science and Technology Office (PSTO), to Barangay Potrero in Malabon City on May 11, 2026.
Barangay Potrero has become a model for communities looking to turn waste into opportunity. During the 2025 National Science, Technology, and Innovation Week (RSTW) in the National Capital Region, it was recognized as the First Runner-Up in the Search for the 2025 Best Community Empowerment through Science and Technology (CEST) Community and received the Special Award for Sustainable Circular Economy. These recognitions reflect how the barangay has successfully used science, community participation, and environmental stewardship to improve the lives of its residents.
Inspired by these achievements, the delegation, led by La Trinidad Municipal Mayor Hon. Roderick Awingan and DOST-CAR Baguio-Benguet Provincial Director Dr. Sheilla Marie Singa-Claver, visited the barangay to learn how proper waste management has grown into a community-driven effort that creates livelihood opportunities while protecting the environment—lessons they hope to adapt in their own communities.
A Community Where Waste Has Value
The visit began at the Tingi Tindahan, Barangay Potrero’s Zero Waste Store, where Punong Barangay Sheryl Nolasco welcomed the guests and shared the community’s journey toward becoming a leading model in sustainable waste management. This Tindahan encourages customers to buy products through refill and reuse methods instead of purchasing new plastic packaging every time.
Inside the store are food items, household products, self-care essentials, handmade bags created by members of the Asosasyon ng Magbabayong sa Atis Potrero (AMAPO), as well as plants and organic compost produced from the barangay’s community garden.
Furthermore, a refill vending machine for condiments and dishwashing liquid further showed how simple innovations can reduce single-use plastic waste in everyday life.
The store has become another source of income for the barangay, making the initiative beneficial not only for the environment but also for local livelihoods.
Barangay officials also shared that the project became possible through the support of DOST-National Capital Region (DOST-NCR), Mother Earth Foundation, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), and B2B Eco Store, which provided funding and capacity-building programs that helped turn the vision into reality.
The People Behind the Clean Community
The benchmarking activity continued with a demonstration of Barangay Potrero’s waste collection system, led by the community’s Potrero Waste Warriors (PWW).
Instead of simply collecting garbage, these waste workers help residents properly segregate their waste before collection. Every weekday morning, they go from house to house, ensuring that recyclable, biodegradable, and residual waste are separated at the source.
Barangay Potrero also formed a team of Waste Monitors and Eco-Police to educate residents and ensure that waste management policies are consistently followed throughout the community. Their work shows that keeping a community clean is not the responsibility of waste workers alone; it is a shared effort among every household.
Turning Waste into Livelihood
One of the biggest takeaways from the visit was how Barangay Potrero transformed waste management into an opportunity for its people.
Recyclable materials collected from households are sold to junk shops, generating additional income for waste workers. Based on the reported figures for the first quarter of 2026, some waste workers earned up to ₱11,000 per month, demonstrating how the initiative not only helps reduce waste sent to landfills but also provides a meaningful source of livelihood for the community.
Meanwhile, biodegradable waste is brought to the barangay’s Materials Recovery Facility (MRF), where, based on the reported figures for the first quarter of 2026, approximately 42,000 kilograms of organic waste were processed into compost using a bioreactor developed by DOST-Industrial Technology Development Institute (DOST-ITDI). The finished compost is then used as a soil conditioner for gardening and farming within the community.
The facility also gives discarded materials a second life by transforming them into useful products such as paper charcoal, decorative vases made from used alcohol bottles, chairs from old tires, plant pots from discarded pipes and boots, and planters made from old trousers. What many people would consider trash becomes valuable products that support both environmental conservation and community livelihood.
The benchmarking activity showed that successful waste management is not just about having the right technology—it is about empowering people to become part of the solution. By learning from Barangay Potrero’s experience, LGU La Trinidad and DOST-CAR gained practical ideas focused on building cleaner communities, creating more livelihood opportunities, and inspiring more Filipinos to see waste not as a problem, but as a valuable resource.
By Maji Manel Medenilla of TSS-SCCU
