Solid waste program not limited to landfill

Secretary Roberto Aventajado, chairman of the Presidential Committee on Flagship Programs and Projects, emphasized that the government's policy on solid waste management is a comprehensive one, and is not limited to sanitary landfill alone.

The setting up of sanitary landfills is only part of the overall solution to Metro Manila's waste problem, according to Aventajado, who is also chair of the Greater Metro Manila Solid Waste Management Committee (GMMSWMC), the agency tasked with solving the garbage problem in the metropolis and neighboring provinces.

Aventajado said sanitary landfill is proposed to be the backbone of Metro Manila's solid waste management policy.

"The reason for this is that aside from incinerator, which is banned under the Clean Air Act, sanitary landfill is the only available technology that has a commercial track record in waste management," he said.

"The other so-called state-of-the-art technologies do not yet have commercial track records. In other words, we would like to dispose our garbage using reliable and proven technology that can handle large volumes of garbage. It would be disastrous, if not naive, to entrust Metro Manila's daily 6,000 tons of garbage to any of these `state-of-the-art technologies'."

Aventajado said that the GMMSWMC is likewise open to trying any of these "state-of-the-art technologies" but initially on a limited basis. If they are proven to work and assuming that they are financially affordable, their capacity will be increased, he stressed.

"But in the event that they fail," he said, "the sanitary landfill will always be around as a backup faci-lity."

Complementing the sanitary landfill and the new technologies are the three R's, namely, reduction, reuse and recycle programs that are implemented by local government units.

Through these three R's and other methods like composting, the volume of garbage that will go to the landfill will be reduced.

The government is committed to closing the San Mateo sanitary landfill at the end of this year. The GMMSWMC is now ready to accept proposals for the construction of a new sanitary landfill that could accommodate Metro Manila's solid waste output of 6,000 tons a day.

"Fast track implementation of the sanitary landfill projects is imperative in order for us to meet our commitment to the residents of Antipolo City and and the province of Rizal for the closure of the San Mateo landfill by Dec. 31, 2000," Aventajado said.