ILOILO – Of this province’s 42 towns, five are left with no approved 10-year solid waste management plans yet – San Joaquin, Guimbal, San Miguel, Sara, and Balasan.
Their local government units have already submitted the plans to the National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC) based in Metro Manila but the Commission has yet to set dates to deliberate on them, said Mitzi Peñaflorida, senior environmental management specialist of the Provincial Government Environment and Natural Resources Office (PGENRO).
The coronavirus disease pandemic may have delayed the setting of dates for the deliberation, Peñaflorida said.
But she is hopeful that before this year is over, the deliberations would push through.
The 10-year solid waste management plans would serve as guides of the local government units on how to properly manage their solid wastes – a requirement of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.
The law “prohibits local governments from operating open or controlled dumpsites and mandates them to, among others, establish materials recovery facilities, also known as ecology centers, in every barangay or cluster of barangays to promote waste prevention and reduction in the grassroots level.
A materials recovery facility includes a solid waste transfer station or sorting station, drop-off center, a composting facility, and a recycling facility.”/PN
