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Friday, November 18, 2005
Peña: Sanitary landfill
By Rox Peña
THE Provincial Solid Waste Management Board finally convened last Nov. 8, 2005, although an executive order reconstituting it was signed as early as March 2005. Better late then never. The creation of the Board is required under Republic Act 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 9003. Its task, among others, is to develop a Solid Waste Management (SWM) Plan for the province based on the plans submitted by the towns and cities.
All municipal and city mayors are members of the Board. Sadly, all of them sent representatives during the meeting. During the discussion, the proxies could not make any solid commitment for their bosses. It was proposed later that the Governor call a meeting of the Mayors to discuss their programs on SWM. Some towns have not even submitted their SWM plans.
The meeting was attended by lawyer Zoilo Andin, the head executive assistant of Secretary Michael Defensor of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and a cabalen from the City of San Fernando. He was recently appointed as executive director of the National Solid Waste Commission (NSWMC) replacing Albert Magalang. The NSWMC is tasked to oversee the implementation of solid waste management plans and prescribe policies to achieve the objectives of Republic Act 9003. It is under the Office of the President and chaired by the DENR secretary.
During the discussion and open forum, the most urgent need that surfaced is the final disposal site for garbage. Open dumpsites are no longer allowed, while controlled dumpsites are only permitted until next year.
The only facility allowed by the Act is a sanitary landfill. A sanitary landfill is an engineered garbage disposal facility, designed to prevent contamination of the groundwater from leachate (katas ng basura). It has several layers of geotextile and plastic lining and a system for collecting and treating the leachate. The problem with such a facility is that it is very expensive to construct.
Atty. Andin said the cost is around P50 million per hectare. Thus, it is not wise for a single municipality or city to construct its own sanitary landfill.
Clustering of LGUs (local government units) and constructing a common facility is the most viable option.
However, cost is not just the consideration for constructing a sanitary landfill. Site selection is also difficult because it cannot just be constructed anywhere. There are several requirements for choosing a site like:
• The facility should not be constructed within 75 meters from a known recent active fault,
• It shall be at least 50 meters away from any perennial stream, lake or river,
• It shall not be located in a floodplain,
• Separation of at least two meters between the top of the liner system and underlying groundwater, and
• It must be consistent with the overall land use plan of the LGU. Rather than constructing their own facility, it came out in the discussion that it is more practical to just use the Kalangitan Landfill in Capas, Tarlac which is within the Clark Ecozone area. It was mentioned that some LGUs have made negotiations already with the operators of the landfill. However, some lament that they cannot afford the tipping fee, especially the western and southern towns of Pampanga who are far from the site.
This is where the Provincial SWM Board comes in. It can consolidate and coordinate efforts, services and resources for jointly addressing solid waste management issues. Creating common transfer stations and negotiating for cheaper transport and tipping rates are some of the support it can provide.
As for the high tipping fee, the solution is waste reduction. Sanitary landfills are, and should always be, the last resort. Recyclable and compostable should be retrieved from the Materials Recovery Facilities. A sanitary landfill is supposed to receive only residual waste.
(November 18, 2005 issue)
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