The Quezon City Government, through the Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability Department (CCESD) in partnership with the Basic Environmental Systems and Technologies, Inc. (BEST), has launched the ‘Trash to Cashback’ program to drastically reduce plastic waste towards a greener metro, while teaching how the public can turn what’s in their trash into groceries, electricity and other bills.

Under the program, QCitizens can exchange recyclable items such as paper, plastic, and metal waste, and earn Environmental Points (EPs), which can be traded for preserves like sandwich spreads, canned fish and meat, or food items like rice, eggs, bread, fruits, vegetables, sugar and even essentials such as toiletries, depending on their corresponding value. 

The program also accepts PET bottles, single-use plastics (SUP) such as shampoo sachets, coffee packs and even online shopping plastic packages. 

Points can be kept or transferred from one account to another. The traders can receive rice incentives if the criteria set by the department in charge are met.

QCitizens who wish to participate are encouraged to register their email to BeepXTRA Philippines, BEST’s Cashback Loyalty Platform partner, to earn EPs. These EPs can also be used in bXTRA food deliveries from the list of partner stores and establishments, which can be accessed through bXTRA.com.ph  and bXTRAoutlet.delivery.

Apart from rolling it out to the barangays to make it more accessible and convenient to residents, the city government is also actively encouraging other sectors to participate. 

Quezon City’s Trash to Cashback program was named the 2025 Bloomberg Philanthropies Local Leaders Climate Awards Sustainable Waste Solutions Winner and the 2026 Manila Bulletin’s Newsmaker of the Year. 

As of Feb 2026, the program has collected a total of 869,722.93 kgs of recyclables and single-use plastic in 94,080 transactions, equivalent to 2,778,734.23 million pesos worth of environmental points, since its launch in 2021. 

This initiative is part of the city’s efforts to intensify segregation and introduce the concept of recycling and a circular economy for a sustainable lifestyle

To learn more about the program, kindly reach out to QC CCESD or visit the FAQ: Trash to Cashback Program. Interested QCitizens may also check out the “How to Register to Join Trash to Cashback” on the QC Gov website. For updates and schedules, follow the QC CCESD Official Facebook page.