From trash to treasure: Jica’s ‘upcycling’ project rises in Bohol to help communities

The wallets, fans and key-holder samples were created by Rowena, Telyz and Angelita—all members of a women’s group in Barangay Cogon in Tagbilaran, Bohol. The souvenir items were made from used plastic shopping bags and snack wrappers.

The women were trained by  27-year-old Japanese volunteer Chisato Kanno, who was dispatched under the Japan International Cooperation Agency’s (Jica) Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers Program.

“Bohol has a thriving tourism industry, but waste management is a challenge. I am introducing a system to the community on recycling plastic, and creating products that they can sell for income,” Kanno said.

With help from Jica, Bohol’s local government, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Education and Barangay Cogon, an “upcycling”-facility project was launched in Tagbilaran, the first of its kind in the Philippines to use digital fabrication equipment.

Upcyling is converting unwanted objects, like plastics, into usable ones without degrading their quality.

In Tagbilaran City about 10 tons of waste materials, particularly plastic shopping bags, are discarded on average.

Through upcycling, waste materials, like plastics, are collected then washed and cleaned. The plastic materials are cut and pressed using a machine to form new plastic sheets that are then transformed into new products.

The heat-press machine was designed by another Japanese volunteer dispatched in Bohol’s DTI, Shiro Takaki.

Takaki assembled the upcycling equipment using a previous Jica-assisted project and the country’s first fabrication laboratory in Bohol.

Through the project, women of Barangay Cogon saw how trash could be redesigned to become someone else’s treasure, while helping low-income families.

“My husband has no fixed salary, so I’m happy to help support our household by being part of this project,” said Rowena, 37.

“My role is to link the City Hall, provincial government, barangays and other institutions to support these women in sustaining the project and marketing the products,” Kanno added.

Kanno, who graduated from a cross-cultural communication degree in Senshu University in Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan, said, “Japan and the Philippines are different in lifestyle and in the way we work, but we can overcome the cultural differences by working together as one.”

“The women in the barangay participate in the design process, and they are proud to create something new that can also help uplift their lives,” she said.