‘Congress needs to amend old environmental laws’

MANILA, Philippines — An administration lawmaker has underscored the need for Congress to amend existing environmental laws particularly on sanitary landfills in the wake of a garbage crisis which he says may occur in Metro Manila within five years.  

Samar Rep. Edgar Sarmiento recently cited the outdated laws that need fine-tuning as he insisted on imposing a mandatory waste segregation scheme on households and all commercial and industrial establishments. 

The congressman from the Visayas said there is also a need to allow both the national government and local government units to use state-of-the-art technology and strictly regulate “waste-to-energy” incineration plants.  

Although there are still debates on the possible closure of the Quezon City sanitary landfill, also known as the Payatas dump, it is expected to reach capacity limit by December this year, Sarmiento warned. 

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, on the other hand, estimates that the dump could still be used until 2021. Other Metro Manila sanitary landfills such as those in Navotas and Rizal are also nearing full capacity. 

The MMDA estimates that the Navotas landfill can be used only until 2026, while the one in Rizal can last until 2037, which could be drastically shortened if all other wastes from the other landfills are diverted to this site. 

Sarmiento said the inevitable closure of the Payatas dump would mean an estimated 2,700 metric tons of solid waste that need to be dumped elsewhere every day.

“That’s the amount of solid waste that goes to Payatas alone, but Metro Manila actually generates at least 8,400 to 8,600 metric tons of garbage every day,” the administration lawmaker said. 

“That amount of garbage represents 25 percent of the solid waste collected all over the country per day. That doesn’t include the garbage that end up in our rivers, creeks and streams, most of which find their way to Manila Bay,” Sarmiento said. 

He said that Metro Manila’s garbage problem should prompt Congress to impose stricter penalties against litterbugs and unsegregated waste disposal, and to consider lifting the complete ban on the use of incinerators. 

Sarmiento said the ban against incinerators was imposed under the Clean Air Act on the basis of the old thermal treatment technologies, but with the advent of more advanced incinerators that convert waste to energy, Congress should take a second look at this policy. 

“We really have very little option when it comes to waste management. While the so-called Triple R, which means reuse, reduce and recycle, remains the most effective solution to our garbage problem, we would still need some place to put our garbage,” he said. 

“In the end, it’s a choice between excavating our mountains and turning them into sanitary landfills or embracing new technologies on waste management including the use of waste-to-energy incineration plants,” Sarmiento said.