REPUBLIC Act (RA) 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act directs the closure of open and controlled dumpsites by Feb.16, 2004 and Feb.16, 2006, respectively. Has this been done?
This paper reported yesterday that the municipality of Leganes, Iloilo has closed its open dumpsite and plans to develop a waste-to-energy facility. That’s good. But how many local governments across the country have indeed closed their open dumpsites or controlled dumpsites? Is the National Solid Waste Management Commission monitoring?
As per RA 9003, an open dump is a disposal area wherein the solid wastes are indiscriminately thrown or disposed of without due planning and consideration for environmental and health standards.
RA 9003 further directs the establishment of materials recovery facilities, also known as ecology centers, in every barangay or cluster of barangays to promote and support waste prevention and reduction at grassroots level. Many bureaucrats and politicians remain fixated with garbage disposal through landfills and even waste incinerators instead of implementing robust ecological solid waste management programs anchored on waste prevention, reduction, separation at source, reuse, recycling and composting.
To eradicate dependence on costly garbage disposal facilities, EcoWaste Coalition urged the authorities to carry out community-driven and socially inclusive Zero Waste resource management program to reduce the volume and toxicity of garbage and divert reusable, recyclable and compostable materials away from cement kilns, incinerators, landfills and dumpsites.
To avert more dumpsite incidents, the EcoWaste Coalition reiterated its call for a decisive closure, cleanup and rehabilitation of all dumpsites. This should observe certain “best practices,” including the organization of a multipartite monitoring team per facility with strong public representation, the historical assessment of dumped waste materials to ascertain the necessary remedial measures, the establishment of leachate collection and treatment systems, and the implementation of an action plan to address the livelihood and housing needs of informal recyclers.
RA 9003 provides for a comprehensive and eco-friendly approach to managing discards mainly through waste prevention, reduction, segregation at source, reuse, recycling and composting, excluding waste incineration.
The law emphasizes waste avoidance and volume reduction through the adoption of best practices in ecological waste management and definitely not open dumping.
