CAPIZ – Tapaz is so far the only municipality in this province set to operate a sanitary landfill.
Construction of the facility has just been completed.
It will start operating on May 27, according to the Tapaz Information Office.
Located in Barangay Agcococ, the sanitary landfill forms part of the Tapaz Waste Management Center which also includes a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF), among others.
Republic Act No. 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 defines a sanitary landfill as a “waste disposal site designed, constructed, operated and maintained in a manner that exerts engineering control over significant potential environment impacts arising from the development and operation of the facility.”
RA 9003 prohibits open dump sites and instead requires sanitary landfills as the final disposal site for solid and residual wastes of a municipality or city or a cluster of municipalities or cities.
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.”
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources is cracking down on open dumps in the country, and targets to close down the last of these.
“As an alternative, sanitary landfill sites shall be developed and operated as a final disposal site for solid and, eventually, residual wastes of a municipality or city or a cluster of municipality and/or cities,” stated RA 9003./PN
