TO MINIMIZE the volume of garbage treated at the private landfill in Barangay Binaliw, Cebu City, the operator hired 84 personnel to segregate trash and recycle non-biodegrable waste.
Through the facility’s Enterprise Development Program (EDP), the landfill management hopes it can motivate material recovery attendants to collect recyclable materials.
The EDP, according to ARN Central Waste Management Inc. president Sherwin Santos, is designed to help scavengers, who are called material recovery attendants (MRAs) in the facility, earn money from garbage.
On top of their earnings from recyclables, the MRAs also receive minimum wage, said Santos.
“We have delegated the entire recycling component to the material recovery attendants group,” said Santos.
Most of the MRAs used to scavenge at the Inayawan landfill in Cebu City and the landfill in Barangay Polog, Consolacion, both of which are closed.
The MRAs have a leader who acts as a program manager and is in charge of checking what materials are needed to recycle the waste. The management would then buy the materials for the MRAs.
Santos said the MRAs will sell the recyclable materials themselves with all MRAs getting an equal share of the profit.
The objective of the program is to help and provide livelihood to the MRAs, who in turn can help speed up the garbage disposal process.
Those who perform their tasks well may even be promoted to other positions at the landfill, Santos said.
“We told them if you’re diligent enough to collect all the recyclables, then you’ll make more money and the money goes back to you,” he said.
Santos said they would only deduct around 20 percent of the total profit and another 20 percent for the administrative costs, which covers electricity, buri hats and other materials they need.
Once the construction of their material recovery facility is completed in August, Santos said they will build the bunk house for the MRAs where they can also store their materials and make their products.
Before they start operating on July 1, 2019, Santos said they will need more MRAs to help at the facility.
He also said that once the MRF is completed, the bottom ash produced from the organic materials will be distributed to farmers for free as part of their corporate social responsibility.
The remaining ash from the waste will be used as cement mix for their cost reduction operations, said Santos.
ARN Central Waste Management Inc. is set to open its MRF by the end of August, or within 100 days as required by the Environmental Management Bureau 7.
The facility started accepting garbage collected in Cebu City and Consolacion town following the closure of the private landfill in the northern town and amid complaints from residents of Binaliw and neighboring villages in Cebu City’s north district. (JJL)