WHEN the private landfill in Barangay Binaliw, Cebu City fully operates on July 1, the management assured it would be compliant with environmental laws and would offer clients a highly engineered facility for waste management.
Also on July 1, ARN Central Waste Management Inc.’s contract with the Cebu City Government will commence, and the facility will officially start receiving the city’s garbage.
Though the City Government’s private hauler has been transporting the garbage to the landfill in Binaliw, ARN president and executive director Sherwin Santos said this is only an emergency response following the closure of the landfill in Consolacion.
Even if the contract was signed by Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, Santos said they are confident they will get the support of the city’s new leadership.
To get the support of Mayor-elect Edgar Labella, Santos said they will continue to be compliant and they will show that their facility is beneficial to the city.
“We believe if ever the mayor will be favoring the methods that we have, it will be by merit. This means the entire LGU (local government unit) will see that it’s highly engineered, that the entire process is scientifically designed,” he said during a press con at their facility in Binaliw on Friday, June 14.
In 2018, opposition councilors opposed the construction and operation of the Binaliw landfill, citing health and sanitation concerns and the absence of transparency in the methods it will use for solid waste management.
The sanitary landfill has been receiving garbage from around 40 haulers coming from the cities of Cebu and Mandaue and the towns of Compostela and Consolacion.
Santos said they want to provide Metro Cebu with a modern and innovative disposal facility.
In five years’ time, ARN Central Waste Management Inc. will have completed all three components of the 15-hectare facility. These are the material recovery facility and engineered sanitary landfill, the treatment and waste processing facility and the waste-to-energy facility.
By the end of August, Santos said the MRF will be completed.
On June 7, a technical conference was attended by officers of ARN, the groups opposing the operation of the landfill and officials of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) 7.
As agreed by the parties, ARN was given 100 days to complete the construction of the MRF building, 30 days to require its haulers to use compactor garbage trucks and to submit their position paper and documents.
ARN is confident they can comply with the agreement, said Renz Soriano, ARN vice president for operations.
Soriano said the MRF building will be completed before the deadline because construction is being done 24 hours.
Aside from requiring its haulers to upgrade its garbage trucks, Soriano said they also asked their clients to spray neutralizing solutions on the garbage to minimize the stench during transport.
They also plan to have a leachate pond around the facility where leachate or fluids from the garbage will be collected and contained.
Santos said they want to set the standard for landfills in the country, especially since they are aiming for zero waste once the whole facility is fully operational. (JJL)