The city government of Laoag, through its Environment and Natural Resources Office (ENRO), distributed 1,500 household composting kits to urban barangays on Thursday to help manage biodegradable waste.

Mylene Isabel Pascual, head of the ENRO, said the initiative advocates household composting, particularly in highly populated areas with limited space for composting.

With an average of 50 tons of waste generated daily, Pascual said home composting can divert 40 percent to 60 percent of household organic waste from the landfill.

“Equipping households with kits to compost their food waste will help ease the city’s waste burden and extend the life of the city’s sanitary landfill,” she said.

Pascual reported that the composting kits were purchased from the Gender and Development Fund for the solid waste management program of the Laoag City government. Prior to distribution, village recipients were taught how to use the kits effectively.

A similar program called “Bokashi Composting” is being advocated by the provincial government of Ilocos Norte through the initiative of Governor Cecilia Araneta-Marcos to reduce domestic waste.

Araneta-Marcos said the composting project works both ways. Instead of buying garden soil and fertilizer, the by-products of composting bins can be used as organic fertilizer for urban gardening.

The program also serves as an income-generating project for persons deprived of liberty at the Ilocos Norte Provincial Jail, who were tapped to make the pails for mass production and received compensation for their work. (PNA)