E-waste study to start in Cebu

CEBU, Philippines - With the aim of formulating comprehensive methods and programs on electronic waste (e-waste), an international firm and local companies will conduct an electronic waste research project in Cebu City for six months starting this year.

The project will be piloted by Nippon Magnetic Dressing Co. from Japan; Cebu Common Treatment Facility Inc. (CCTFI); Cebu E-Resource Recovery Inc (CERRI); and SM Prime Holdings, Inc. to introduce Japanese recycling technologies to address e-waste related problems.

Last Wednesday, the City Council passed a resolution authorizing Mayor Michael Rama to enter into and sign a Memorandum of Agreement  with the said companies. Representatives from the Japanese firm will arrive in Cebu on May 12 to sign the agreement.

Based on the MOA, SM will be placing recovery boxes in different locations in the mall, which CCTFI/CERRI will collect and transport to their facility. Meanwhile, NMD will be responsible for the proper treatment of the wastes gathered.

The city government, on the other hand, will make legislative measures to “stop the illegal dumping and backyard dismantling of e-waste as well as strengthen the multi-stakeholder partnership to solve e-waste problem in the city.”

Councilor  Nida  Cabrera  of  the Council’s Committee on Environment, said that with Cebu as an economic zone, the collaborative research will give the city government comprehensive insight on how to manage and dispose of electric wastes properly.

Cabrera said inappropriate disposal of electronic wastes has to be corrected, pointing out that the current practices in the city are “inadequate and poses threats to public health and the environment.”

“This is an initial step towards the formulation of a comprehensive program to manage electronic wastes, which are considered hazardous,” she said.

The Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) of the Department of  Environment and Natural Resources and the city’s Solid Waste Management Board (SWMB) are supporting the undertaking.

The project is in accordance to Republic Act 6969 (Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes Control of 1990), which mandates the regulation, restriction and disposal of hazardous wastes, such as process residues, contaminated plant or equipment, side-products, substances from manufacturing firms, among others.

Considered e-wastes are wastes that contain toxic substances like lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent, chromium, and several forms of brominated flame retardants. —/JMO (FREEMAN)