The
Philippines is a beautiful country that unfortunately has a number of important
environmental issues which need to be dealt with (Perez, 2011) . One of these
critical issues is with regard to the mismanagement of garbage and wastes in
the country which causes other types of environmental disasters such as
flooding, erosion, landslides and other dangers on landfills and dumpsites that
include health concerns among the people living nearby (Perez, 2011) . Unfortunately, the
Philippines has one of the highest amount of solid waste generated in the world
yet, still has no sustainable and effective waste disposal facility (Calica, 2009) . Given the perennial
garbage problems in the Philippines which harm the environment, waste
management is indeed a necessary step to resolve and minimize all
garbage-related problems in the country.
In a recent study about the garbage
problems in the Philippines, studies revealed that in Metro Manila alone, an
estimate of 8,000 tons of solid waste are generated daily. However, only 6,000
tons end up in legal waste facilities while the rest are illegally dumped in
private lands, creeks, rivers and at times, are even burned openly (Calica, 2009) . What is even more
alarming is the fact that the rate of increase in the amount of garbage or
waste produced on a daily basis, significantly increases at 40% on the average.
Apparently, most landfills and garbage dumpsites filled up very fast. As such,
there is a great danger that the country may run out of proper dumpsites and
waste facilities that will ultimately lead to further environmental and human
hazards (Imagine Echo Projects Waste,
2008) .
Some
of the local government bodies in the Philippines are currently pursuing the
best methods to solve the ever-increasing garbage problem in the country.
According to Pavia (2012), some provinces in the
country will be pursuing the privatization of their solid waste management
efforts in order to diminish the negative effects of garbage mismanagement such
as flooding, erosions, landslides and even health problems & dangers on the
landfills. On the other hand, the Philippine Congress is also actively
prioritizing the creation of new laws and policies intended to strengthen
proper waste management practices in the country. In fact, just recently, some lawmakers
have already filed a bill which requires Local Government Units (LGUs) to make
use of garbage trucks with “onboard compactor” for the proper transportation
and collection of solid waste (Castillo, 2012) . Basically, the main
purpose of this onboard compactor is to compact solid
waste while these are in transit and ultimately, reduce the total volume of
solid waste and minimize the amount of waste generated in the major cities and
localities in the country (Castillo, 2012) .
The Philippine government recognizes
the fact that there are many possible solutions to address the ever-growing
problem on waste generation. Unfortunately, there are also many given
constraints to totally eradicate this huge garbage problem in the country.
Nevertheless, amidst all the present issues on the perennial garbage problems in
the country which constantly harm the environment, it is still important to go
back to the basics of waste management as it remains to be a very critical and necessary
step in resolving and minimizing all garbage-related problems in the country.
References
Calica, A. (2009). Villar: Garbage problem now an
environmental disaster. Retrieved from
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleid=455885
Castillo, L. (2012). LGUs urged to use garbage trucks with
onboard compactor. Retrieved from
http://www.congress.gov.ph/press/details.php?pressid=6178
Imagine Echo Projects Waste. (2008). Environmental
Problems in the Philippines. Retrieved from
http://imagineechoprojectswaste.blogspot.com/
Pavia, J. (2012). Pineda wants garbage management
privatized to solve global problem and prevent spread of diseases.
Retrieved from
http://punto.com.ph/News/Article/14990/Volume-6-No-27/Headlines/Pineda-wants-garbage-management-privatized-br-i-To-solve-global-problem-and-prevent-spread-of-diseases-i
Perez, D. (2011). Waste Management Problems of the
Philippines. Retrieved from
http://www.spectrumbluesteel.com/blog/2011/07/01/wastemanagement-problems-philippines/
No comments:
Post a Comment