THE National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC) is stepping up the review and approval of 10-year solid-waste management (SWM) plans submitted by local government units (LGUs).
The agency recently approved the plans of 67 LGUs during an en banc meeting on October 28, NSWMC Secretariat Executive Director Eligio T. Ildefonso told the BusinessMirror in a telephone interview.
LGUs are required to submit their respective SWM plans in compliance with Republic Act (RA) 9003, or the Ecological SWM Act of 2000.
So far, Ildefonso said, around 92 percent or 1,500 out of 1,634 LGUs have submitted their 10-year SWM plans, which covers the period 2017 to 2018.
The submission and approval of LGUs’ 10-year SWM plans are often delayed because most plans lack proper waste characterization, which is important in implementing the so-called 3Rs (reduce, reuse and recycle), a strategy identified to effectively address the looming garbage crisis.
RA 9003 provides for a systematic, comprehensive and ecological solid-waste management program that includes SWM activities such as avoidance, reduction, reuse, recycling, composting and proper disposal of residual waste.
Under RA 9003, LGUs are tasked to properly implement waste segregation, recycling and composting to reduce waste and dispose them at an engineered sanitary landfill. LGUs are also mandated to shut down open dumps. In 2015 and 2016, the NSWMC, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Office of the Ombudsman have started to crack the whip against erring LGUs and filed cases against officials of at least 50 LGUs.
Under the Duterte administration, however, the DENR is backtracking and is using a different tack, working closely with LGUs to identify solutions such as the use of appropriate technology and provision of financial and technical assistance.
“Now the plans submitted by LGUs have proper waste characterization,” Ildefonso said. “This is very important because, through proper waste characterization, we will know what kind of waste the LGUs need to dispose of.”
The approved plans also identify how the LGU intends to do proper waste segregation, recycling, composting; these include hauling and disposal.
Capacity
THE commission has earlier approved the plans of at least three LGUs that intend to implement waste-to-energy projects. They are Quezon City, Davao City and Cebu City, Ildefonso said.
The commission emphasizes it supports the implementation of “no-burn, waste-to-energy” technology as a solution to the garbage problem.
For an individual LGU to be allowed to implement a waste-to-energy project, the LGU should at least have the capacity to produce a minimum of 200 tons per day.
With 200 tons per day of garbage, Ildefonso said, the LGU, by rule of thumb, can already produce at least 7 megawatts to 8 megawatts of electricity.
Small LGUs, he added, are also encouraged to pool together their resources and come up with a common facility where they can dispose of their garbage and implement waste-to-energy projects.
The strategy, he said, is the same strategy adapted for LGUs with limited resources to be able to comply with the requirement of establishing a materials recovery facility (MRF) and an engineered sanitary landfill in lieu of
open dumps.
The commission has been busy reviewing the submitted plans of LGUs. It has also green-lighted in August the implementation of the respective SWM plans by 15 LGUs including Quezon City. Another 20 LGUs got the approval for their respective 10-year SWM plans in September.
Policy
THE approved SWM plans include strategies on residual, recyclable, biodegradable and special wastes such as the strict implementation of the “No Segregation, No Collection” policy, recycling of single-use plastics, and composting and construction of vault for health-care wastes. Municipal ordinances in support of these strategies were also identified.
The resolutions given to the LGUs with approved SWM plans require the LGUs to submit to the NSWMC their final plans with a Sangguniang Bayan resolution and an annual progress report on the strategies implemented and accomplishments.
The commission may revoke the approval of the plan for non-compliance with the law and the SWM plan.
The law mandates all LGUs, through their solid waste management boards, to prepare a 10-year SWM plan consistent with the national SWM framework. The plan shall be for the reuse, recycling and composting of wastes generated in their jurisdictions.
The SWM plans of LGUs shall ensure the efficient management of solid waste generated in their cities and municipalities.
The National Solid Waste Management Commission is the primary agency tasked to implement the provisions of RA 9003. It oversees the implementation of SWM plans and prescribes policies to achieve the objectives of the law.
The commission has 14 members from the government sector and three members from the private sector.
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