PHILIPPINE SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT

The Philippines generates about 10,000 million tons of solid waste per year and only 12 percent of the waste is recycled and re-used. The single most dominant issue for solid waste management (SWM) is the inadequacy of disposal facilities. Presently, open dumping is still the most common waste disposal method as controlled dumpsites and sanitary landfills (SLFs) are very limited.

The opportunities presented by this serious environmental problem to suppliers of solid waste management products and equipment are enormous. The potential, however, is tempered by inadequate funds and technical capability, lack of political will and other problems. Despite the limitations, the market for SWM is still expected to grow five percent in the next three years.

The major end-users of SWM products and equipment are the local government units and their private contractors as well as private proponents of SWM projects. The equipment cost and the source of project funding are major purchase considerations of end-users.

Overview

Solid waste is an environmental problem that has reached critical proportions in the Philippines. Due to a growing population, rapidly increasing consumption and increasing urbanization, waste generated in the Philippines is estimated at 19,700 tons per day. Projections show that waste generation will increase 47 percent by 2010, or 28,875 tons per day.

SWM is the responsibility of local government units (LGUs), i.e., barangays (the smallest political unit composed of 50-100 families), municipalities, cities and provincial governments. There are 41,392 barangays, 1502 municipalities, 116 cities and 71 provinces nationwide.

The barangay is responsible for the segregation of waste at source, collection of biodegradable and recyclable components and setting up of a materials recovery facility (MRF). There are about 976 MRFs nationwide. The municipality or city governments are responsible for the collection and disposal of residual nonbiodegradable and hazardous waste, except in Metro Manila where disposal is within the mandate of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA).

Republic Act (RA) No. 9003 (Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000) was signed into law in January 2000 to address the gargantuan solid waste problem of the Philippines. It espouses the reuse, recovery and recycling of MSW, with special emphasis on composting, as opposed to outright disposal. RA 9003 set February 2004 as the deadline for shifting from open to controlled dumping. By February 2006, the law states that controlled dumpsites will be deemed closed and phased out. RA 9003 does not specify what type of disposal facility should be operated when the controlled dumpsites

are phased out. However, the law contains minimum requirements for designing SLFs as well as minimum considerations for operating SLFs.

February 2004 has long passed but only about 126 LGUs had implemented the conversion of open dumps into controlled disposal facilities. There are still about 734 open dumpsites nationwide. In contrast, there are only four SLFs (Clark Ecozone in Tarlac; Cebu City in the Visayas; Bais, Negros Oriental and Puerto Princesa City, Palawan) in the country. About 215 sites have been identified as potential SLFs.

At the current rate of implementation, LGUs’ full compliance with the law is difficult to achieve. Disregard for solid waste disposal regulations and laws, lack of political will, huge capital outlay requirements and insufficient funds, lengthy and bureaucratic processes (permits, environmental clearance certificate, etc.), inadequate technical capacity, insufficient number or inappropriate collection vehicles, inability to reach households or collection stations and limited storage at transfer points are among the problems. In addition, potential disposal sites are difficult to find due to public resistance to hosting facilities for storage, processing, treatment and final disposal of MSW.

The failure of LGUs to close open dumps and establish the proper disposal facilities is now subject to lawsuits. The effect of these lawsuits on LGUs should be closely monitored. If this will impel them to seriously implement RA 9003, then the demand for SWM products and equipment will increase tremendously. Since the establishment of dumps and landfills is costly, many LGUs are pushing for more composting and recycling activities.

There are reports that the National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC), the government entity tasked to oversee the implementation of solid waste management plans, may release information on types of disposal facilities other than SLF that LGUs may operate by December 2005. These other types of disposal facilities will have direct impact on the types of SWM products and equipment that will be demanded by LGUs and their contractors or partners. RA 9003 promotes recycling. To date, only 12 percent of MSW is recycled or reused.

About 50 percent of the country’s solid waste is highly organic (biodegradable) and recyclable. Thus, composting and recycling have great potential. Composting activities in barangays are rather crude, using only rotary or mechanical drums or perforated membranes using aerobic method. While the LGUs have the primary responsibility in SWM, the private sector may help by putting up production processes and technologies that prevent and minimize waste generated as well as efficiently treating and disposing all unavoidable waste products. There are a few private entities with recycling projects. These include the PET recycling projects of San Miguel Corporation, a food, beverage and packaging corporation; and the recycling plant for packaging materials of the Polystyrene Packaging Council of the Philippines, a group of foam polystyrene producers.

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RA 9003

In the light of growing garbage problem in the country, Republic Act (RA) 9003 also known as the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 was enacted by the Philippine Government.

"The unsystematic disposal and collection of our wastes have posed a tough job for our government. With the modernization of society, we have come to accumulate more wastes than we can manage to dispose of properly. Left unmanaged and improperly disposed, wastes can cause serious heath problems to everyone. Moreover, a dirty environment defeats the aesthetic potential of our surrounding," the Bureau in its statement.

In return, RA 9003 provides for a systematic and comprehensive Ecological Solid Waste Management (ESWM) program for all sectors of society to adopt and implement.

Solid waste refers to all discarded household and commercial waste, non-hazardous institutional and industrial waste, street sweepings, construction debris, agricultural waste and non-hazardous/non-toxic solid waste.

ESWM refers to the systematic administration of activities which provide for segregation at sources, segregated transportation, storage, transfer, processing treatment and disposal of solid waste and all other waste management activities which do not harm the environment.

"This is an Act providing for ESWM program, creating the necessary institutional mechanisms and incentives declaring certain acts prohibited and providing penalties, appropriating funds therefore and for other purposes."

The basic policies of RA 9003:

A) Ensure the protection of public health and environment; B) Utilize environmentally sound methods that maximize the utilization of

valuable resources and encourage resources conservation and recovery; C) Set guidelines and targets for solid waste avoidance and volume reduction

through source reduction and waste minimization measures, including composting, recycling, re-use, recovery, green charcoal process, and others, before collection, treatment and disposal inappropriate and environmentally sound solid waste management facilities in accordance with ecologically sustainable development principles;

D) Ensure the proper segregation, collection, transport, storage, treatment and disposal of solid waste through the formulation and adoption of the best environmental practices in ecological waste management excluding incineration;

E) Promote national research and development programs for improved solid waste management and resource conservation techniques, more effective

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institutional arrangement and indigenous and improved methods of waste reduction, collection, separation and recovery.

F) Encourage greater private sector participation in solid waste management G) Retain primary enforcement and responsibility of solid waste management

with local government units while establishing a cooperative effort among the national government, other local government units (LGUs), non-government organizations and the private sector;

H) Encourage cooperation and self-regulation among waste generators through the application of market-based instruments;

I) Institutionalize public participation in the development and the implementation of national and local integrated, comprehensive and ecological waste management programs; and

J) Strengthen the integration of ecological solid waste management and resource conservation and recovery topics into the academic curricula of formal and non-formal education in order to promote environmental awareness among the citizenry.

A National Solid Waste Management Commission was established as provided by RA 9003 to oversee the implementation of SWM plans and prescribe policies to achieve objectives of this Act. The Commission shall be composed of 14 members from the government sector and 3 members from the private sector.

Mandatory Segregation of solid wastes; each LGU's Ecological Solid Waste Management (ESWM) Plan must include implementation schedule which shows that within 5 years after this Act takes effect, the LGU shall divert at least 25 percent of all solid wastes from waste disposal facilities through reuse, recycling, and composting activities

Open dumpsites shall not be allowed as disposal sites; and, establishment of LGU's Material Recovery Facility (MRF) in every barangay or cluster of barangays, a mandatory provision of Republic act 9003.

MRF is considered as the heart and soul of ecological waste management. The MRF is a place where wastes are either made into compost and/or recycled. In essence, it is important place because this is where marketable products out of waste are stored.

Its main components are; Ecology garden, a composting site, not a dumpsite. The MRF center has also a choice of which method or methods to use; Eco shed or warehouse where clean recyclable are stored to be sold to the factories.

Article 4 Section 32 provided the establishment of LGU MRF may it be barangay owned, leased land or any suitable open space which shall be designed to receive, sort, process and store compostable and recyclable material efficiently and in an environmentally sound manner.

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The facility shall address considerations such as the building and/or land lay out and equipment must be designed to accommodate efficient and safe materials processing, movement, and storage and building must be designed to allow efficient and safe external access and to accommodate internal flow.

A successful MRF has five key elements ESWM which are; 1) Engineering-appropriate processing equipment sand design and technically viable and environmentally sound recycling and reuse process; 2) Education-effective promotion, information and education campaign for segregation, collection and compliance to ordinances; 3) Enforcement-Ordinances with IRR that will enable and empower enforcers and implementers; 4) Environmental Organization supportive ESWM Board and LGU, adequate information on LGU profile and waste characterization for effective planning and projections;5) Equity-financially viable management and operation from production to marketing, availability of support and start-up fund.

In Metro Manila alone there was reportedly around 5,900 tons of garbage or 0.5 kg per person being generated daily. While for areas outside Metro Manila, the waste generation rate ranges from 0.3 to about 0.5 kg per person a day. Residents of urban centers produce between 0.5 and 0.7 kg a day, while those in rural areas generate 0.3 kg per person a day.

There is 29.8 percent of solid waste being collected; Paper and cardboard, plastic and petroleum products, textiles, Metals, Glass, Leather and rubber. Reportedly, there are more than 800 open dumps in the country but only a hundred were controlled.

It is estimated that garbage dumps increases at two percent per year.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/ilo/2005/12/11/news/environment.presents.ra.9003.html

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