WITH the increasing amount of garbage waste generated, an environmental group said only 29 percent were collected by the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro).
Interface Development Interventions (Idis) policy advocacy officer Raine Catague said based on the 2018 data from Cenro, an average of 1,012 tons daily volume of waste are being generated in the city. However, only 292 tons were collected.
She said wastes included are coming from commercial establishments, households, industrial establishments, and hospitals.
“Medyo nabalaka mi sa data collection sa mga waste collected. Asa gaadto ang ubang basura (We are worried with the data collection of the waste being collected. Where did the remaining portion went?),” Catague said.
The environmentalist said one of the problems that continues to be a huge contributor of the city’s waste problem is the poor waste management practice.
She said 50 percent of those collected wastes are biodegrable wastes while 29 percent are residual wastes.
Catague said this had resulted to the exhaustion of the city landfill in Carmen, Tugbok District, wherein it already reached the level of more than 900,000 ton level, based on Cenro’s 2016 data.
She said the landfill’s capacity could only reach between 700,000 to 800,000 tons.
“If naa lang unta ta’y proper waste segregation, dili na unta ta miresulta sa ing-ani nga kahimtang (If we only practice proper waste segregation, we won’t have resulted to this problem),” Catague said.
Idis, one of those pushing for the implementation of the single use plastic, is finalizing its position to be submitted to the City Council.
Catague said they are pushing for a total banning of the single-use plastic, which hugely contributes to the increasing garbage generation in the city.
She said the group is proposing for a gradual phase-out so it will not affect those in the business sector.
SunStar Davao has reached out to Cenro to get their reaction but as of the writing of the story, the office has yet to issue a statement but assured that they will give one soon.