METRO Manila’s rapid development is good, especially for adjoining provinces as it rolls economic activities that could no longer be accommodated in the densely populated National Capital Region (NCR).
Aside from these, Metro Manila also gets to accumulate 16,000 tons of garbage per day being dumped somewhere – in “engineered landfills” located in Montalban town and another in Navotas City.
Interestingly, the Rizal Provincial Sanitary Landfill in Montalban is located adjacent to an old repository of Metro Manila garbage – the Payatas dumpsite.
HUMONGOUS GARBAGE
Solid waste management remains a major challenge specifically in urban areas. Improper waste disposal, inefficient collection and lack of dumping facilities are among the dominant concerns.
Unless addressed, wastes generated from various sources will have seriously impact on the environment such as ground and surface water contamination, flooding, air pollution, and spread of diseases.
In the 2020 estimates, NCR alone generated over 16,000 tons of waste daily. Solid waste volume is expected to double by 2030. A sizable proportion of the refuse is openly burned, further worsening the quality of the city’s already heavily polluted air, or dumped in rivers, creeks, and the Manila Bay.
Quezon City, based on Metro Manila Development Authority’s database, contributes 3,600 tons of garbage daily. This is the biggest representing 29 percent of the daily solid waste output in the metropolis. The cities of Manila and Caloocan follow.
The constant increase (in garbage bulk) could be attributed to the “frail enforcement and compliance with the law”.
SHUNNING SEGREGATION
The tremendous volume of garbage coming from Metro Manila goes to Montalban dumpsite in mixed forms. This means wastes are not segregated in violation of Republic Act 9003 of 2000 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.
While existing laws mandate that non-organic waste like metals and plastics must be segregated and channeled to accredited materials recovery and recycling facilities (MRF), the truth is that the government does not have the capability to process the bulk of Metro Manila’s garbage.
In the absence of government-operated MRFs, the bulk of metals and plastics goes to junk shops that sell these to factories manufacturing and remanufacturing plastics, metals and other non-biodegradable trash.
But not all non-biodegradable garbage could be sold to the junk shops. Rejects are believed to be dumped in open trash pits or in waterways.
ENGINEERED LANDFILLS
RA 9003 aims to reduce waste through a policy framework for local government units.
The objective of the law is to reduce waste by 25 percent, establish integrated solid waste management plans, develop effective local strategies, and build partnerships with other stakeholders. Nowhere in the law prescribes the need to construct the so-called “engineered landfills.”
The law also embarks on effective waste management, including collection, treatment, and disposal of solid waste. This measure promotes recycling, composting, re-use, and recovery; waste diversion and recycling, requiring segregation at source and separate collection system.
PARTIALLY INEFFECTIVE
In May of 2023, the Commission on Audit (COA) described RA 9003 as “partially ineffective.”
It has failed to achieve its goal: to reduce generated waste. Instead, COA observed a “steady increase” in solid waste generation through the years.
The constant increase, COA reported, could be attributed to the “frail enforcement and compliance with the law.” The government agency cited political, financial, and technical limitations of LGUs and other implementing agencies.
MORE INCONSISTENCIES
“Inconsistent implementation” of waste segregation and waste diversion was also noted by COA. A significant presence of mixed wastes had been found in landfills.
The condition, the COA reported, reduced the capacity of MRFs for diversion, “causing the waste volume in landfills to exceed capacity and shorten serviceable lifespans.”
As of 2011, the country only had 11,637 total MRFs that served 16,418 — 39.05 percent — out of 42,046 barangays.
Some 245 total operational sanitary landfills only catered to 478 or 29.25 percent out of 1,634 LGUs. As a result, operation of the illegal dumpsites could not be avoided.
