The municipality of Sablan in Benguet province started ramping up its waste management program to avoid future problems.
“Habang dumadami ang tao, dumadami din ang basura kaya yung mga kaya natin i-dispose sa engineered sanitary landfill (ESL) sa baba ginagawa natin, yung mga nabubulok naman na kaya natin i-manage, dito na sa atin (While the population increases, garbage also increases that is why we manage those we can dispose in the sanitary landfill at the lowland while we manage here the biodegradable wastes),” Sablan Mayor Alfredo Dacumos said in a phone interview with the Philippine News Agency on Wednesday.
The mayor said they conducted a Waste Assessment and Classification System (WACS) last week to teach proper segregation, proper waste management, recycling, and composting.
“Kaunti pa lang ang nage-generate na basura pero hindi na natin hihintayin pa na malala na ang problema bago pa tayo gumalaw, dapat ang goal natin ay ma-minimize ang basura (We have less garbage generation, but we should not wait for the problem to become more serous before we do something about it, our goal should be to minimize the garbage),” he said.
The WACS activity also doubles as environmental protection and preservation.
Dacumos said they bring the residual wastes to the ESL in Urdaneta, Pangasinan, at least twice a year.
He said they are aiming for a reduction in the frequency of transporting garbage by managing other garbage items that can be reused, repurposed, and recycled.
Dacumos said they encourage every household to manage their biodegradable wastes at source, turning these into compost fertilizers to be utilized for backyard plants and even the vegetable gardens, as most residents are engaged in farming.
The bottles and plastics generated in the communities are also collected and converted to bricks at the municipality’s eco-farm for beautification purposes and sold to residents for their backyard garden needs.
Plastics and other packaging materials are also converted into bags, which serve as a livelihood for residents.
“May pera sa basura at maraming pwedeng gawin na product na pagkakakitaan kaya nagtuturo tayo sa mga residente (There is money from garbage as many products can be made out of it that can generate income, that is why we are teaching the residents to recycle),” he added. (PNA)
