Cebu City faces garbage crisis

CEBU CITY — In three years or less, this southern city would face a garbage crisis of gargantuan proportions because it has mismanaged its solid waste disposal system, a Japanese environmental expert has warned.

Hidaka Tamotsu, of the Kitakyushu City environmental bureau planning section, was sent to this city to study its solid waste management system as part of Kitakyushu’s environmental assistance commitment.

Kitakyushu City and Cebu City have a sisterhood pact.

Reading the results of his study to participants of a seminar on solid waste management and environmental monitoring at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel, Tamotsu said the mismanagement of solid waste in this fast-growing metropolis could drastically shorten the lifespan of the Inayawan landfill to less than its three remaining years.

And with no alternative landfill in sight within that timeframe, a real garbage crisis now looms.

Landfill’s lifespan

Tamotsu said the hastening of the remaining lifespan of the landfill is due to three factors:

• Failure to segregate solid waste into biodegradable items and large solid objects;

• Inconsistency in planning the availability of garbage trucks; and

• Absence of any long-term waste management system.

The Japanese team headed by Tamotsu studied waste-related facilities of the city such as the Inayawan landfill, the biogas and composting facility at the north reclamation area, the city abattoir, the sewage treatment plant, and the Department of Public Services.

Tomatsu found the dumping area at Inayawan already filled up, while two-thirds of the composting area has risen two meters above ground level.

Tomatsu found it alarming that the discrepancy between his findings on the capacity of the Inayawan landfill and projections made by the city exceeds 50 percent.

The 15-hectare Inayawan landfill cost P208 million to build and became operational in 1998. It was designed to accommodate 894,250 tons of garbage over seven years at an average of 350 tons of garbage daily.

Aside from the failure of segregation, which drastically increases bulk, Tomatsu said the city also does not have a rational system of acquiring garbage trucks.

As it is now, he said the city operates at least eight different brands of trucks bought from three different countries, making it difficult to secure a steady supply of spare parts to ensure that trucks get running almost immediately after they break down and thus, would not interrupt the flow of garbage disposal.

"The garbage trucks break down often due to non-segregation of garbage and long operating hours. Garbage collection is done in three shifts operating in 24 hours. I admire the big sacrifice of the garbage collectors who are working hard," Tomatsu said.

Mere observation

But councilor Nestor Archival, who sits as vice chairman of the city council’s committee on environment and who represented the city government in the seminar, does not believe the dire projections of the Japanese expert.

"The estimate of the Japanese was made only according to their observation… Now, we have some measures to prolong the lifespan of the landfill," he said.

Archival insisted that the landfill, designed for a lifespan of only seven years from the time it became operational in 1998, is still good for five to eight years from now.

He said, "Fifty percent of the garbage — or around two hundred tons — is biodegradable and 25 percent of this is recyclable. What will be left is just residual garbage, which is composed of plastic bags, diapers and the like."

He added that the city started composting and segregating last month.

Archival denied that the city has no alternative site once the landfill becomes full, saying an adjacent property owned by the Jaca family has been offered for the city’s use.

Adding to the landfill’s woes is the garbage from Talisay City, which Mayor Tomas Osmeña is allowing to be thrown there for free.

Archival, however, said this is only temporary and that the neighboring city has, in fact, not yet started dumping its garbage in Inayawan. — Freeman News Service