City Hall pushes for composting

CEBU, Philippines - Faced with a lot of problems about disposing the tons of garbage generated in Cebu City each day, the Cebu City Government is pushing for residents to practice composting.

In cooperation with other government agencies, the City Hall yesterday conducted a symposium to discuss the benefits of the “Takakura Composting Method,” which has been embraced by many since it was launched in Indonesia.

The Takakura Home Method is composting that can be practiced by households in urban areas. 

It was developed by Mr. Koji Takakura from the Japanese JPEC Company, in partnership with the Kitakyushu Initiative Network (KIN) of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for the Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and Surabaya, Indonesia City Councils and the Kitakyushu International Techno-Cooperative Association (KITA) in Kitakyushu City, Japan.

The Takakura method uses native organisms for composting - cultured and fermented from locally available materials such as fresh fruits, vegetable peels, coconut wine, brown sugar, rice bran and rice husks. Using baskets with holes, this is applied by mixing the biodegradable waste and the “native organisms’ starter,” and covered with husk pillow and cloth.

The method can also be applied for composting market wastes in a larger area.

Yesterday’s symposium at the Department of Science and Technology Office in Lahug, Cebu City gathered technical and professional organizations, academe, and people with background in biology, biochemistry, and chemistry.

After the successful launching of the Takakura Composting Method in Surabaya, Indonesia, it was brought to the Philippines, in Bago City, Negros Occidental. It was introduced in Cebu City in 2008 yet.

Rey Pacres, section head of the Environment Management Section of the City Planning Development Office and executive director of the solid waste management board, said that they have conducted several demonstration seminars to introduce the Takakura composting.

“Composting man gud usa ni sa mga strategies to reduce waste. Ang Takakura method usa sa composting method nga gi-promote sa City along with the Vermi-composting. We started distributing the Takakura basket in the households. We also encourage the barangays to have a Takakura compost center. We are trying to disseminate the information as wide as we can,” Pacres added.

He added that so far, since they introduce the said method, they received good reception from the households and some universities. The Southwestern University already has a Takakura Compost Center.

According to him, 50 percent of the 400-500 tons of garbage generated everyday is biodegradable. The City Government aims to reduce the volume with the use of the Takakura method by 10 percent this year and another 30 percent in the next two years.

Last November 2010, the group conducted four training workshops in the eight pilot communities: Capitol Site, Kamputhaw, Mabolo, Tinago, Barangay Luz, Mambaling, Quiot, and Sawang Calero.

The City Hall is doing this in coordination with the Department of Science and Technology 7, Kitakyushu International Techno-Cooperation Association (KITA), Institute of Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), and Japan Fund for Global Environment (JFGE). – (FREEMAN)