Majella Liboon, Mall Manager of SM City Iloilo

SM SUPERMALLS WASTE MARKET FAIR PROJECT
Environmental Entrepreneurship Champion

The SM Supermalls Waste Market Fair Project has provided a new dimension to malling, an urban phenomenon that has kept everyone away from open spaces and from the sight of unpleasant solid wastes. Indeed, malls are well maintained and clean, making people blind to the litters of the world as they spend their day inside air-conditioned shopping centers, and that a portion of what they buy from the malls becomes garbage.

Started in 2006, the innovative project has re-educated mall goers on the importance of solid waste management. At the waste market fair, one can transact business with recycling companies and turn recyclable items for cash. The latter include items that have no value or those that are considered hazardous like Styrofoam products, non-functioning cellphones and busted batteries.

With SM City only as host that doesn’t receive a single centavo from each transactions, the project educates the people on waste generation and segregation. Its contribution to environmental protection is simple but significant -- making everyone admit that the solid waste problem is everybody’s business.