Authorities to LGUs: legislate

Plastic regulation ordinances

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, May 12, (PIA) –With yet only one existing and approved sanitary landfill that suits the environmental requirements set by law for solid waste disposal in Bohol, there is a need for municipal governments to put up legislation and implement stricter plastic regulation ordinances in the re-utilization of biodegradable and reusable containers.

This came up as one of the many recommendations from the Bohol Provincial Environment Management Office (BPEMO) which surfaced during the recent Provincial Ecological Solid Waste Management Council meeting, held at the Capitol’s Ceremonial Hall, May 9.

The recommendation came amidst the information that Bohol generates a total of 454,010 kilograms of garbage per day and a sanitary landfill that can only accommodate these wastes.

The meeting also bared that of the nearly half a ton of waste generated every day, 56.19 % are biodegradable wastes that can drastically lessen the amount of waste that goes to the sanitary land fill, if these are segregated and managed separately.

Biodegradable waste, or bio-waste is defined as biodegradable garden and park waste, food and kitchen waste from households, restaurants, caterers and retail premises, as well as comparable waste from food processing plants.

When thrown altogether into the sanitary landfill, they can occupy precious space when in fact, they are organic matter which can be broken down into carbon dioxide, water, methane, compost, humus, and simple organic molecules by micro-organisms and other living things by processes of composting, aerobic digestion and anaerobic digestion or similar processes.

And of the nearly half a ton of garbage every day, 20.45% of these are recyclable wastes, or those that can be processed and used again, about 70% of the 454,000 kilograms of solid waste, this potentially lessens the total weight of garbage for the ecological landfill facility, BPEMO officer in charge Jovencia Ganub hinted.

With that, with only the residual hazardous or non-hazardous industrial wastes and special wastes are getting dumped into the common local waste facility, filling the single sanitary land fill could take even more that 25 years, BPEMO said.

By legislation, BPEMO Ganub means strict segregation at source, non-collection of biodegradable and recyclable materials to force households to compost and recycle and imposing stiff penalties for violators, can immensely help Bohol’s ecological solid waste management problems.

BPEMO also recommends shredding of plastic cellophane and other residual waste potential for diversion.

With 88,000 kilograms of residual wastes generated everyday, this would mean another 20% of the trash getting diverted and repurposed, into creative re-use.

Repurposing and diverting means pulverizing broken glass bottles to be used as component in production of bricks, hollow blocks and concrete mixing for industrial and commercial uses.

This could also mean utilizing recyclables into decorative items in school garden, at home, community centers and other showcase areas, or into Christmas decors. (PIA-7/Bohol)