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Capitol’s Solid Waste Management Plan: a 10-Year Journey to a More Environment-Friendly Cebu
Pollution caused by poor management of wastes has been considered as one of the major challenges that the government has to address.
In 2000, the House approved Republic Act 9003, or The Ecological Solid Waste Management of 2000 that promotes efficient reduction of wastes by engaging in environmentally-friendly disposal, composting, recycling, re-use, recovery, green charcoal process, and building of waste facilities and providing penalties, among other purposes.
In line with Cebu Gov. Hilario P. Davide III’s 6-Key Agenda to safeguard the environment and promote health and social services, the Provincial Government, through the Cebu Provincial Solid Waste Management Board, adapted the Cebu Provincial Solid Waste Management Framework Plan in March 2017.
It is a 10-year (2017-2026) plan of the Cebu Provincial Government aimed at diverting 90 percent of the total waste generation by the local government units (LGUs) at the end of 2026.
This will be done by promoting composting for biodegradable waste and adoption of new environment-friendly technologies for recycling. Such can be achieved by mainstreaming disaster risk reduction and adapting to the changing climate.
Jason Lozano, PENRO chief, said it is very important for host communities and LGUs to thoroughly understand the intention of the plan considering that some people do not have “a good impression” when it comes to waste disposal and management. However, Lozano added that the LGUs value the initiative of the Province in coming up with the waste management plan.
He said that the Provincial Government serves as the “big brother” of the LGUs by extending the needed support to ensure the implementation of the program and follow the waste management law.
In implementing this framework plan, the Provincial Government has identified three strategies: policy advocacy, capacity building and direction intervention.
In policy advocacy, Capitol will push for the passage and strict enforcement of local legislation in support to the solid waste management (SWM) program and provide rewards and incentives by incorporating SWM in the “Our Cebu” program.
The Provincial Government will also tie-up with recycling facilities and strengthen public-private partnership (PPP) on SWM financing, provide technical assistance to municipalities and cities on SWM, and include livelihood program in the SWM plans in order to achieve its capacity building strategy.
Development and establishment of an effective composting systems and facilities, massive information dissemination drive, and establishment of an effective and efficient waste disposal mechanisms and facilities will also be the approaches the Capitol would employ under the direct intervention strategy.
A knowledge management (KM) mechanism will be established to support these three strategies. This mechanism will be done through an effective monitoring and evaluation system and database management and establishing a cost-recovery measure.
The Provincial Government provided at least P500,000 allocation as financial assistance for the construction of material recovery and composting facilities (MRCF) for each of the 51 component cities and municipalities to be used as recovery, temporary storage, composting, and final sorting facility that will also serve as transfer station. Some LGUs already built the facility, while the rest are still underway.
Among the bold steps that the Provincial Government has initiated to start up the plan was the purchase of an 18-hectare property for the establishment of an integrated sanitary landfill (SLF) for clustered LGUs in Barangay Dauis Sur, in the northern town of Carmen.
A waste to energy and other technologies will also be installed in the property using the residual wastes disposed at the SLP, as well as a separate vault that shall hold the treated toxic and hazardous wastes.
Apart from the SLF in Carmen, there are also five future sites being considered in the towns of Argao, Badian and Sogod and in the cities of Bogo and Toledo.
Public-private partnership or joint ventures are among the options that either the Provincial Government or the concerned LGU may adopt in the establishment and operation of the SLF and WTE or other technologies.
Based on the Waste Analysis and Characterization System (WACS) data provided by the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO), there are at least 1,212,418.48 kilograms or 1,212 tons per day of solid wastes generated in the province. Of these, at least 533,464.13 kg. (44 percent) are biodegradables; 278,856.25 kg. (23 percent), recyclables; 387,973.91 kg. (32 percent), residual; and 12,124.18 kg. (1 percent) special wastes.
Under the SWM framework plan, at least 67 percent or 812.3 tons of the total generated wastes per day, which are mostly biodegrables and recyclables, can be diverted through composting, and through recycling and reusing.
The target of the Capitol is to only send a maximum of 9.33 percent of the total generated wastes to final disposal facilities.
To drum up engagements among the stakeholders, particularly the LGUs, the reward and incentive system will also be implemented through the Province’s Our Cebu program. The rewards range from P500,000 for the first prize, P300,000 for the second prize, P200,000 for the third prize, and P50,000 as consolation prizes for five LGUs.
Our Cebu Program is an initiative of the Provincial Government that aims to ensure that the entire Province of Cebu, with the leadership of all the LGUs, become an ideal place to live, work, play and engage in business. Solid waste management is one of the key areas to be appraised under this program, which reinforces the commitment of the LGUs to observe the mandate of RA 9003, a 10-year journey to a more environment-friendly Cebu.
