‘Use QC as pilot area for waste management act’

An environmental group has asked the government to use Quezon City as a pilot area for the implementation of Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.

Sonia Mendoza, president of Mother Earth Unlimited, said that Quezon City Mayor Feliciano "Sonny" Belmonte Jr. could use 50 percent of the city government’s P600 million annual budget for the hauling of garbage in the establishment of Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs).

Mendoza noted that under the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of RA 9003 the "barangays should be empowered in the collection, segregation and recycling of biodegradable, recyclable, compostable and reusable wastes."

"Quezon City has a total of 142 barangays. I suggest that the lead agency implementing the Solid Waste Management Act should make Quezon City a pilot area and establish a material recovery facility in every barangay or cluster of barangays," Mendoza said.

Mendoza proposed that each barangay in Quezon City should be given a P1 million fund for its Material Recovery Facilities.

"If you do the MRF in every barangay, you reduce the hauling by 75 percent, so I’m asking that 50 percent of the budget for the hauling of garbage (in Quezon City) be given to the barangays for a long term solution to the garbage problems of Quezon City," Mendoza said.

Mendoza said it would only cost Quezon City P142 million for the chance to find a lasting solution to the garbage crisis in Metro Manila.

"There will be a lot of savings by doing in at the barangay level. I throw this to the Quezon City government as a pilot program in the 142 barangays," Mendoza said.

Mendoza said that the Quezon City government after one year would harvest the fruits of her proposal.

"Give it a try for one year. It’s a very short time. But it’s very doable," Mendoza said.

Mendoza said that there is a need to conduct an intensive educational campaign for the strict compliance of the law, particularly the need to segregate and recycle and compost.

Under RA 9003, MRFs shall receive biodegradable wastes for composting and mixed non-biodegradable wastes for final segregation, re-use and recycling. – Jose Rodel Clapano