Ordinance on disposal of special wastes ok’d

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City Council recently approved an ordinance that provides the system in disposing of special wastes such as paints, batteries, electronics and oil, among others.

Once the ordinance is approved, special wastes will have to be collected separately from non-biodegradable wastes and will have to be treated and disposed of following the standardized procedures.

“There is an urgent need to enact legislation to ensure proper management of special wastes that shall protect and promote the interest and welfare of the city’s constituents, in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government Code of 1991,” said Councilor Ma. Nida Cabrera, who drafted the ordinance.

Cabrera chairs the City Council’s committee on environment.

She cited a 2012 study conducted by A2D Project-Research Group for Alternatives to Development, Inc. entitled “Household Hazardous Waste and Items Baseline Inventory in Cebu City, Philippines,” which covered 57 out of the 80 barangays in the city.

With 1,636 respondents, the study revealed that 42.6 percent of the respondents were completely unaware of hazardous products, especially products which are most likely to contain mercury, and they were also unaware of the proper disposal method of these wastes.

This prompted Cabrera to come up with a policy to protect the health of the people and the environment by monitoring the generation, collection, transport, treatment, storage and disposal of special wastes.

The proposed measure will also pave the way for the upgrading of the local recycling sector and will also provide option for private sector participation.

To sustain the enforcement of the ordinance, the city government will earmark an initial P500,000 for the operating expenses.

Further, under the ordinance, each barangay in the city must establish collection points for special wastes.

“Barangays shall establish their respective collection points to allow special wastes generators to temporarily store for less than 30 days such wastes until its removal by an accredited transporter to a registered-TSD (Treatment, Storage, Disposal) facility,” it read.

Each designated collection point must secure the Hazardous Waste Generator Identification Number from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-7. It must also be accredited by the Cebu City Solid Waste Management Board.

Every January 30, all accredited collection points have to submit a report to CCSWMB on the quantity of special wastes collected during the preceding year following a template determined by the board.

TSD facilities and recyclers are also mandated to report to CCSWMB on the special wastes collected and treated or recycled in the previous year.

The authorized treatment facility identified by Cabrera is the Cebu Common Treatment Facility Incorporated situated at the Inayawan Sanitary Landfill compound.

Producers and distributors of electrical and electronic equipment operating within the city are to submit to the city government a “take-back, recycling and final disposal program.”

Furthermore, all parties covered under the ordinance will have to establish and maintain an effective contingency plan to mitigate possible health and environmental impacts arising from accidental releases of hazardous materials into the environment.  (FREEMAN)