NEDA hits Metro LGUs on waste disposal plan

MANILA, Philippines - Only nine of the 16 cities and one municipality in Metro Manila have submitted a solid waste management (SWM) plan, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said yesterday.

The NEDA also noted that only 414 local government units (LGUs) of the total 1,610 in the country have complied with the national plan since 2012.

This means that there is only a 52.94 percent compliance rate for Metro Manila and a mere 25.71 percent compliance for the national level, the NEDA said.

NEDA said that continued non-compliance would delay the establishment of a SWM projects at a time when the country is experiencing more and more natural catastrophes, including floods and storms.

The country’s leading economic planning agency said the high capital costs as well as the unwillingness of LGUs are two of the major cause of the delays.

“The inadequate financial capacity of LGUs and the perceived low willingness of LGU constituents to pay for SWM services are the main reasons for why we scored low in achieving the objectives of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act (ESWMA) and Philippine Development Plan (PDP): 2011-2016,” Socio-Economic Planning Secretary and NEDA director general Arsenio Balisacan said in a statement.

The PDP envisions a 50-percent increase in solid waste diversion rate from waste disposal facilities through reusing, recycling and composting, and other resource recovery activities by 2016, with 2010 data as a baseline. The diversion rate measures how much solid waste is redirected from disposal to recycling.

In 2011, the diversion rate of solid waste in Metro Manila was only at 34 percent or approximately 2,850 tons per day out of 8,400 tons per day total waste generated. This is a slight improvement from the 33-percent baseline in 2010.

The lack of SWM plans of LGUs has made them more dependent on facilities from the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) in managing their increasing volume of solid wastes from residents and business establishments.