It was in 1994 that the local government of Sta. Maria, Bulacan recognized the need to institutionalize zero waste management, which could help eliminate the municipality’s problems of pollution, flood, and epidemic. This resulted into a 3-way partnership among the municipal government, the Sta. Maria Economic Foundation, and AWARE, a private enterprise. This partnership’s aim was to design an effective ecological waste management program.

      The program was intended to be a self-sustaining operation and thus included everything from the separation of biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes, collection and delivery of wastes to the plant, processing and recycling, and product marketing.

      Under the program, biodegradable wastes, which constituted thirty eight percent (38%) of the total garbage collected per day, are recycled into organic fertilizer. The fertilizer produced was used to improve production yields of rice and vegetable farms. Non-biodegradable wastes, on the other hand, are sold to recycling facilities and manufacturers.

      Before the recycling plan was implemented, the municipal government had planned to acquire an additional dumpsite to accommodate the increasing volume of garbage generated in Sta. Maria. This would have cost the government much more. With the waste processing and recycling facility, 90 bags of organic fertilizer or 2,700 bags worth P100 each were produced daily. Aside from that, the organic fertilizer produced from recycling is environment friendly. Unlike commercial fertilizers, it is not acidic and soil fertility is enhanced at a much reduced rate.

      The reduction-recovery-reuse concept in waste disposal was made successful in Sta. Maria, Bulacan with the enthusiastic participation of the people to complement the government’s efforts. All it took was strong discipline and a new mindset for change to take place.