Ecological Solid Waste Management

Ecological Solid Waste Management Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 also known as R.A. 9003 refers to the systematic administration of activities which provide for the segregation at source, segregated transportation, storage, transfer processing, treatment and disposal of solid waste management activities which do not harm the environment. It aims to elucidate the benefits of having facilities in every places in which can be stored of biodegradable materials or places where it can be processed. It promotes a paradigm that emphasizes waste as resource through the principles of Reduction, Reuse and Recovery as means of minimizing and eventually managing solid waste. R.A. 9003 is consist of the responsibilities of the different local government units including NGO’s, establishment of the National Solid Waste Management Commission and National Ecology Center, proclamation of Mandatory Waste Diversion Goal, formation of Materials Recovery Facility and organization of disposal facilities.

Illustration No. 1
Conceptual Framework of R.A. 9003 Ecological Solid Waste Management should start at the household level. Management of waste materials I the households are normally carried out by the servants and often the housewives. Thus, they must be well-informed about proper waste handling and management.
Tabaco City City Ordinance No. 010-2008, also known as “The Comprehensive Ecological Solid Waste Management of Tabaco City was legislated in 2008 with the primary purpose of enhancing ecological balance of the community through sustainable and integrated waste management. Hence, in 2011 the City Government of Tabaco approved the Implementing Rules and Regulation (IRR) of City Ordinance No. 10-2008 which is Sanggunian Internal Resolution No, 136-2011. Providing the purposes specifically, to minimize generation of solid waste through reduce, reuse, recycle and composting. The Tabaco City Solid Waste Management Program comprises of the following components: profiling, waste assessment and characterization study, collection and transfer, source reduction, recycling, composting, processing, solid waste facility capacity and final disposal, education and public information, special waste, resource requirement and funding, privatization of the solid waste management projects, and incentive programs. The promotion of the SWM program was driven through the IEC plan, which includes the meeting with 47 barangays, institutions, GAs, NGOs; lectures with NSTP schools, pilot waste segregation/collection for public market; Mother Earth Foundation implementation and partnership; and dialogue with selected barangays along rivers/coastline. To have a good result they are encouraging every barangay to assess their waste generation and in totality to determine a permitted final disposal facility or an applicable alternative residual management scheme. They also have Material Recovery Facility (MRF) in which the recyclable materials/waste such as plastic is still be used like in making a bricks. Their existing controlled dumpsite is located at San Antonio Tabaco City. The Tabaco City current waste disposal facility is located in Brgy. San Antonio, about 6 kilometers away from the city center. The road from city center to Barangay San Antonio is an all-weather concrete highway. However, the connecting Barangay road in San Antonio going to the dumpsite is currently under rehabilitation/concreting works by the city government. The disposal site is a remote rolling area 2.5 hectares in size that is already about 50% utilized, surrounded by agroforestry and far from residential/housing or crop production area. Technically the site is operated as a controlled open dumpsite, although some portions of the garbage dump are covered by sandy soil. As the illustration below affirms that there is no gas collection system and no water treatment system in the dumpsite. The area soil type is typically sandy, hence drainage of water may not be a problem (area is not easily clogged) in the event of rain. Illustration No. 2 Illustration No. 3

Illustration No. 4
(Illustrations Nos. 2, 3, and 4 show areas of the dumpsite before, during and after soil covering and compacting operation by the load equipment.)
[Credits to the photographer who have taken the photos.]

A heavy equipment/pay-loader comes to the site occasionally to cover garbage dump with sandy soil. There is no residential house within the property except a small hut for a caretaker’s family. Two caretakers keep operations in the dumpsite always in check – logging-in/recoding of daily haul by collection trucks, serving as guide for trucks during dumping, controlling entry by waste-pickers, checking or repairing boundary fences and related work. Aside from doubling their role as waste-pickers for extra income, caretakers are also instructed to spray chemicals to the garbage dump to get rid of odors and flies using standard backpack-type (portable, manually-pressurized tank with nozzle-head hose) spray, usually used for agriculture. Out of 30 barangays covered by the LGU Solid Waste Collection Service, there are only 12 Materials Recovery Facilities in Tabaco. In the near future, the city government of Tabaco is planning to have at least one MRF per barangay, operated by the Barangay Officials. The MRF serves as a temporary storage and sorting facility for recyclables, in preparation for bulk delivery to junkshops. These project is intended as an income generating venue for the Local Government, as well as a support mechanism for its IWS worker. Illustration No. 5 Illustration No. 6
(Materials Recovery Facility in Tabaco City with color-coded compartments for different types of recyclables.)
[Credits to the photographer who have taken the photos.]

According to Cesar Cabria, head of Environment and Natural Resources, in order to a city ordinance effective, the very first thing to do is to educate the students and young people for them to fully understand the ordinance in order for them to be part of its implementation. Upon the implementation, the attitude of the people is the main problem they encountered, it is because of the difficultly to alter the habit of the people on waste disposing, and one more is the lack of financial budget to support the ordinance. In order to solve the problem on waste disposal, Mr. Cesar Cabria recommended that the government must strictly implement the program and cooperation of the people is highly needed. This only means that both the people and the government must work hand in hand to make this ordinance an effective one. The young ones must teach by their parents on how to dispose wastes correctly. He said that there were only minimal violators that they had encountered from the report of every barangay who is in charge of the monitoring activity, and most of them are from the informal settlers.
Legazpi City In line with the implementation of R.A. 9003 the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, City Ordinance No. 0017-2009 and the continuing effort of the city government in addressing issues associated with solid waste management and environment as a whole, the City of Legazpi has implemented an Integrated Ecological Solid Waste Management Program. The program includes two (2) major components and three (3) minor components: construction of Sanitary Landfill Facility and the establishment of a Barangay Material Recovery Drop-off Center in every barangay; and the Information, Education and Communication; Capability Development; and Livelihood. The project beneficiaries are 49 barangays out of 70 barangays. Prohibited Acts (as per City Ordinance No. 0017-2009) are: (1) littering, throwing and dumping in public places; (2) open burning of solid waste; (3) collection of non-segregated waste; (4) open dumping and burying in flood prone areas; (5) removal of recyclable materials; and (6) mixing of source-separated recyclables. Fines and Penalties for private individuals: First Offense, Php 300 or community service and/or imprisonment of not less than 5 days; Second Offense, Php 500 or community service and/or imprisonment of not less than 10 days; Third Offense, Php 1000 or community service and/or imprisonment of not less than 15 days. For commercial, industrial, other establishment, PUVs and etc.: First Offense, Php 1000 or community service and/or imprisonment of not less than 10 days; Second Offense, Php 2000 or community service and/or imprisonment of not less than 15 days; Third Offense, Php 3000 or community service and/or imprisonment of not less than 30 days. The ESWM project is financed by the Spanish Government through the Agencia Spañola De Cooperacion Internacional para el Desarollo (AECID) provides for the improvement of the Solid Waste Management System of the City of Legazpi in conformance with the mandate prescribed under R.A. 9003. MRF is considered as a social component of the Sanitary Landfill and the new designed collection system, which is the technical component of the ESWM program. It is the component where the roles of the Barangays, the City and the every waste generator are defined for successful ESWM implementation. To fully understand the roles and responsibilities of each stakeholder, different activities were done such as: in-depth trainings for City Implementers, Barangay Leaders and Persistent Information, Education and Communication (IEC) Campaign among the barangays constituents, academe, business establishments and other wastes generations. The component also includes the provisions of Barangay MRF and Drop-off Centers (BMRDOC), collection equipment such as padjaks and push-carts. Legazpi City Sanitary Landfill Facility is located at Citio Caridad, Brgy. Banquerohan, Legazpi City with a 33 hectares land area, as of now only 12 hectares are in used, the remaining is reserved for future usage. The following are the Sanitary Landfill features and support facilities: (1) Landfill Cells which composed of cell 1 with an area of 1.015 hectares and cell 2 with 0.371 hectares. The active landfill cell is the cell 1 and the back-up cell is the cell 2. Wherein, as of now, the cells 1 have its 3rd layer dump. The first layer was started last October 2011. It consists of 25 units of gas bent (20 meters apart). Each cell has a gravel bed and a covering membrane made of rubber. (2) Leachate Treatment Facility (LTF), it is a facility to treat waste water (leachate) coming from the two landfill cells. It is designed for volumetric flow rate equivalent to 15 cubic meters per day. The LTF has four (4) components: two (2) units of Sumptank with a volume of 100.8 cubic meters per tank, one (1) unit of Anaerobic Stabilization Pond, three (3) units of Facultative Stabilization Pond, and one (1) unit of Maturation Pond. The collected leachate are processed through the Sumptank and pumped to the Anaerobic Stabilization Pond, and transferred within 40 days to the Facultative 1, 2 and 3 which are being processed until it reached the lowest level of contamination. The Maturation Pond is the unit wherein the treated waste water will be examined by the DOST. If the waster passed the level of contamination, the water in the Maturation Pond will be discharged to the natural creek. (3) The Vault for Sharps with a volume of 9.2 cubic meters contains the medical wastes from hospitals, clinic, etc. (4) Administration Building, where the receiving area and office of the management were placed, including the safety gears (boots, vest, mask and protective gear) used by the caretakers and visitors. (5) Motor pool/Garage, where the heavy equipment are being placed. (6) Wash bay, it is the place where the equipment is washed and they put up deodorizer. (7) Box Culvert; (8) Main Road; (9) Perimeter Fence; (10) Guardhouse; and (11) Elevated Water Tank and Pump House.

Illustration No. 7
(Legazpi City Sanitary Landfill Facilities) Madam Salve B. Corral, head of City Environment and Natural Resources (CENR) said that the ordinance needs discipline from the household simply because it is hard to change the routine of the people. As their strategy, they implement this ordinance through the Barangay responsibility, the NO SEGRAGATION NO COLLECTION POLICY. Those who violate the guidelines, the wastes produced by their barangay will not be collected and will be issued a citation ticket. They have an action officer for the monitoring of the ordinance twice a month through performance assessment in each barangay. She said that the ordinance was successful in terms of the awareness at the same time having difficulties because of the habit of the people. She suggested the continuous IEC to remind the people from time to time. The ordinance brought changes to the city such as, (1) awareness of the people regarding their waste, (2) maintain the cleanliness of the city and (3) became a tourist attraction.
Ligao City The City Government of Ligao enacted the Ordinance No. 2011-02 – “The Ligao City Ecological Solid Waste Management Ordinance of 2011” in compliance with the R.A. 9003. Included in the ECOLOGICAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM OF LIGAO CITY are the orientation of ESWM of Ligao City, ESWM Act of 2000 Ligao City ESWM Ordinance No 2011-02 and Provincial Ordinance No. 2011-03 at School, Market, Community, Business Firms/Establishment and Household; Information Education Campaign through Broadcast (radio), Print media, Lecture/Forum and Poster; Conduct of River and Estero Clean-Up; Conduct of Poster Making Competition; Updating of ESWM 10 year Plan; Updating of Safe Closure and Rehabilitation Plan; Establishment of Material Recovery Facility (Cluster); and Conduct of Waste Analysis Characterization Study (WACS).

Illustration No. 8
(Presentations and visual aids presented when conducting seminars/lectures/forums)

Mrs. Solidad T. Preńa, head of City Environment and Natural Resources Office, said that the ordinance is currently implemented but they were not able to monitor it because the Fisheries Code is their priority ordinance. She stated that it is the obligation of the Barangay to monitor if the ordinance is well-observed by the people because it was already included in the IEC.
The current solid waste disposal site in the City is a five-hectare (5 ha) controlled dumpsite located in Barangay Bonga, about 3.5 kilometers southeast of the city proper. It has passed the DENR standards and is certified compliant with ESWM Act of 2000. The controlled dumpsite is planned for conversion into a sanitary landfill just like in Legazpi City. The LGU has three dump trucks that collect garbage and transport them to the controlled dumpsite. The collection system mainly covers the urban. And neighboring barangays that are not serviced by the City’s Solid Waste Collection System are subjected to burning waste, burying or simply dumping it into waterways. The CHO reported that 61.5% (10,465) of the city’s 17,031 households had satisfactory means of garbage disposal.

Illustration No. 9

The illustration above shows the facilities and machines used to separate biodegradable from non-biodegradable materials in the controlled dumpsite. All decomposable materials are collected and placed to the grinding machine and freely distributed to the farmers for fertilizer. The illustration under displays the equipment used in the dumpsite.

Illustration No. 10 The CHO advised that SWM Board should monitor the status of the ordinance, and generate projects and monitoring body to supervise the flow of the implementation. Moreover, the people should also interact to the programs for it to be easier to carry out. As of now, the city transformed into a clean environment because of the coordination of the citizens and of course, the continuing execution of the ordinance.