Smokey Mountain Remediation and Development program, Manila, Philippines

Smokey Mountain is a 2,000,000-ton garbage heap that, for over 40 years, served as a waste disposal facility for Metro Manila and attracted a huge squatter community who scavenged the garbage for their livelihood.

Objective

Sustainable Project Management (SPM) was invited by Father Ben Beltran SVD, the parish priest of Smokey Mountain, to help develop a solution that would address the long-term environmental and health risks associated with the community�s exposure to the mountain of waste, whilst improving the livelihood of the vast population that relies on the waste business. To meet these objectives, SPM developed the Smokey Mt. Remediation and Development program (SMRDP), with the support of the Asian Development Bank. Since August 2005, SPM has executed a multi-level strategy that includes public-private partnerships as well as community empowerment, in order to reach our goals of poverty alleviation and environmental improvement.

Public-Private Partnership Approach (PPP)

For over 10 years, SPM has used a PPP mechanism in order to align the public and private sectors in support of community programs. With limited government resources in Manila, the PPP approach allows for added financial support for the proposed measures, as well as the buy-in of all stakeholders involved. With the support of the ADB-Poverty and Environment Program (PEP), partnerships have been formed between SPM and the Sambayanang Muling Pagkabuhay Multi-Purpose Cooperative (SMP-mpc), as well as with the Hi-Tech Zero Waste Association. The PEP program allows for SPM to work with as much as three cooperatives in Smokey Mountain area. Other strategic partners include:

• DENR
• National Solid Waste Mgmt Commission
• City of Manila: Office of the Mayor and Dept. of Sanitation
• National Housing Authority
• House Guarantee Corporation
• Integrated Bar of the Philippines
• Mother Earth Philippines and Earth Day Network
• Sagip-Pasig Movement
• Engineers Without Borders

Programs

I. Micro-enterprise support for poverty alleviation: Working in partnership with the church-based cooperative, SMP-mpc and the Hi-Tech association, SPM is acting as a catalyst to support revenue-generating initiatives, focused on Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs). There is a need to involve and empower local groups and give support to existing micro-enterprises, in order to secure and augment the revenue stream for the residents.

Expanding the existing MRFs is a key priority of the Smokey Mountain program. The collection, sorting and sale of waste are major activities of these and other cooperatives in the area, in addition to other micro-enterprises such as craftsmanship programs and purified water distribution. Through a network of partners and expertise in waste management, SPM is helping to restructure and expand the current practices in order to devise a new market position to increase revenue potential.The MRF program functions using a multi-level approach, and is in full accordance with the guidelines provided by Republic Act 9003, workplace health and safety standards, as well as environmental safeguard policies of the Asian Development Bank.

• Micro-finance opportunities: SPM is partnering with the community to build a micro-finance component into these new micro-enterprises. Building on the success of existing cooperatives that focus on recycling solid waste, SPM is organising loans that would allow the cooperatives to increase their capacity to generate revenue.

• Operational procedures and guidelines: as a complement to micro financing, the operational procedures of the micro-enterprises are being formalized. From accounting procedures to inventory and decision-making processes, the micro-finance loan is contingent upon the development and use of well written operational procedures.

• Training and capacity building: in order to help build the skills necessary for a successful micro-enterprise, a series of workshops are being delivered in 2006 to strengthen existing capabilities. These workshops include basic financial planning, marketing and networking, as well as management and organizational skills.

II. Raising the standards for environmental improvement: Working with the community as well as with environmental science experts, SPM is delivering a series of programs that helps to raise awareness around environmental issues at the household level, as well as to insure that the toxicity levels of Smokey Mountain have stabilized.

• Testing and Monitoring of Air and Water Quality: SPM�s environmental scientists are currently evaluating the results of gas emissions from Smokey Mountain. Our first results indicate that the trash site, inactive for over 10 years, is no longer a serious threat to the community�s health. However, more detailed testing and analysis will take place in 2006 to assess all health concerns including monitoring gas emmissions at Smokey Mountain.
• Organic Waste Processing: Using a donated bioreactor from the Department of Science and Technology, the SMP-mpc cooperative is able to process up to 1 ton of organic waste per day. The organic waste processing is being managed at the SMP-mpc Materials Recovery Centre. The capacity to process organic waste will be expanded through micro-enterprise support. An SPM communications campaign with households is promoting the segregation of organic waste.
• Community Education and Recycling: Working in partnership with Mother Earth Philippines, SPM is supporting a community education campaign that promotes organic waste segregation in the 21 buildings at Smokey Mountain. This organic waste is being delivered to the SMP-mpc, ensuring that a high level of environmental quality begins at the source. In a short amount of time, nearly half the buildings are complying with this trash sorting system.
• Additional awareness campaigns are planned for 2006 to help engage the whole community. A community survey has also been conducted as a baseline measure for program impact.
• Carbon Emission Trading: Opportunities to generate carbon revenue from Manila�s MSW exist from composting, gas flaring from the sanitary landfill and waste to energy conversion. The City of Manila and other groups are interested in pursuing the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol. SPM is currently evaluating opportunities for CDM registration and carbon emission trading in order to identify potential revenue streams for Smokey Mountain.

SPM Philippines Team

• Anita Celdran, Program director
• Bert Guevara, Waste management and operations consultant
• Philip Camara, Micro-enterprise and financial consultant
• Natalie Jiricek, Environmental engineer/project advisor
• Joyet Castor, Financial planner and program assistant
• Odette Alcantara, Mother Earth Philippines, Community education program advisor

International Support Team

• Hon. Hugh Faulkner P.C., Chairman and strategic counsel
• Perya Short, Community development & regional coordinator
• Marlyne Sahakian, Micro-finance and fundraising counsel
• Martin O�Neill, Technical director
• David Fonjallaz, Environmental scientist

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