Chiz Escudero

I advise the government to aim at total zero-waste management instead of a lackadaisical approach to the problem of garbage disposal.

The viability of total zero-waste management has already been amply demonstrated. All the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has to do is expand the program.

The record of the DENR’s National Solid Waste Management Commission shows 1,714 material recovery facilities (MRFs) are already operating successfully, servicing  1,921 barangays. But there are about 41,945 barangays, and most have yet to follow suit.

It’s about time we do something serious about the problem. We are running out of dumpsites to accommodate the tons of garbage we generate everyday. And open dumps are an inefficient way to dispose of the trash.

The solution to the problem has already identified and prescribed with the approval of Republic Act (RA) 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.

But we fail to implement the full force of the law. It’s ironic that the law was the first signed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, but so far only a few local government units observe its provisions.

The law mandates every barangay or cluster of barangays to put up its own MRFs, where garbage segregation, recycling and composting of biodegradable wastes are made.

The traditional way of garbage disposition is environmentally unsafe. Waste material leaches and pollutes our ground and surface water, not to mention the foul smell.

MRFs do not require huge amount of money to implement. But local government units do need a lot of time and patience to persuade their constituency to support the program.

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