IATF urged to include waste segregation at source in rules as businesses reopen
MANILA, Philippines — An environmental organization on Tuesday called on the government’s task force on coronavirus response to include waste segregation at source in the rules to be issued as the Philippines gradually opens its economy.
EcoWaste Coalition said provisions on mandatory separation of waste materials at the point of generation must be included in the guidelines to be issued by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease on the reopening of most business establishments.
“We urge the authorities to make source separation as part of the ‘new normal’ to achieve the interconnected objectives of conserving resources and protecting waste workers from coronavirus infection,” Jove Benosa, the group’s zero waste campaigner, said.
EcoWaste Coalition cited the Memorandum Circular 2020-002 of the Department of Tourism as an example. The memorandum, issued on May 22, requires accommodation establishments to provide a separate trash bag or bin intended for used personal protective equipment such as face masks, gloves and other sanitation waste materials.
“The issuance of guidelines requiring waste segregation at source will minimize the cross contamination of discarded materials and reduce occupational exposure to the virus,” Benosa said.
The organization earlier called on the government to grant hazard pay to garbage collectors who handle potentially dangerous waste materials.
“As frontliners from the environmental sector in the country’s determined efforts to prevent and control COVID-19, we believe that garbage collectors are entitled to hazard pay—regardless of their employment status—due to the risk they face in the performance of essential waste management services,” it earlier said.
The new coronavirus has so far sickened 14,319 people in the Philippines. Of the figure, 3,323 have recovered, while 873 have died.
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