Filipino villagers swap trash for rice in fight against plastics

123rf

In a bid to fight plastic wastage, a village in the Philippines is offering its residents rice in exchange for their trash.

That's right. Residents of Bayanan can get one kilo of rice for every two kilos of plastic waste they deposit. The trash is then handed over to the government for proper disposal or recycling. 

In fact, the village collected more than 213 kg of plastic sachets, bottles and bags in August.

Village chief Andor San Pedro said the food-for-trash swap is teaching people how to properly dispose of plastic waste.

The Southeast Asian nation is among the world's top marine plastic polluters, studies show, with laws on solid waste poorly enforced.

 

More from International News

  • US Senate passes Trump's tax-cut, spending bill; sends to House

    The Republican-controlled US Senate passed President Donald Trump's tax and spending bill on Tuesday, signing off on a massive package that would enshrine many of his top domestic priorities into law while adding $3.3 trillion to the national debt.

  • France shuts schools as heatwave grips Europe

    More than a thousand schools were closed in France on Tuesday and the top floor of the Eiffel Tower was shut to tourists as a severe heatwave continued to grip Europe, triggering health alerts across the region.

  • Blow for Thailand's government as court suspends PM from duty

    Thailand's Constitutional Court on Tuesday suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra from duty pending a case seeking her dismissal, in a major setback for a government under fire on multiple fronts and fighting for its survival.

  • Trump signs order lifting sanctions on Syria, White House says

    President Donald Trump has signed an executive order terminating a US sanctions programme on Syria, allowing an end to the country's isolation from the international financial system and building on Washington's pledge to help it rebuild after a devastating civil war.