Our Solid Waste Dilemma

After the intense summer heat, Typhoon Domeng ushered in the rainy season with the then seemingly benign effects given its projection of not making landfall. Perhaps, said storm was a welcome event as it cooled down the heat-weary homes, especially in urban centers.
Lo and behold, Typhoon Domeng appeared to be a reminder of the bitter reality we are in — extreme weather as the new normal.
Although easily explained by scientists or weather meteorologists, the fact that the monsoon rains of the past several days caused so much flooding still baffles. One has now been accustomed to rainfall alerts with the qualification of no storm signal. In particular, Typhoon Domeng already exited the Philippine Area of Responsibility, yet still threatened Luzon with heavy rains due to the enhanced southwest monsoon.
The incessant rains of the past week or so likewise served as a grim wake-up call to our mounting solid waste management problem. Yes, rains kept pouring, but that exposed our cities’ vulnerability to flooding mainly because of clogged waterways and esteros. Thus, news reports which accompanied Typhoon Domeng and the monsoon rains included huge volumes of garbage dumped into creeks and rivers, as well as hardened residue from cooking oils constricting drainage flow.
In the last couple of months, the country’s problem on solid waste management has once again taken center stage. This was triggered by headlines pointing to the Philippines as the third biggest contributor of plastic pollution to the world’s oceans. Although the study where the findings are based on was published a few years back, and questioned by concerned agencies for its veracity, these did not stop civil society organizations or policy makers to trigger a renewed focus.
Of course, the immediate reaction, or proposed solution, is to ban a general class of plastics.
This has been the sentiment of legislators for a time now as several bills advance the prohibition against plastic packaging, one way or another. Currently, beverage containers or plastic bottles have caught attention, as if they are the poster boys of plastic pollution.
Looking deeper into the issue, however, are plastics really the root cause of the problem?
Certainly, plastics in the oceans and waterways pose a grave threat to marine species and public health, but any solution must be based on data, science and facts. One fact for sure is that the emergence of plastic use was driven by market demand, and to offer a better, which back then was supposed to be a more environmental friendly alternative to paper bags. To this point as well, a good policy addressing our solid waste problem should at the minimum reflect or consider an accurate waste characterization and analysis of tons of garbage lying on our shores and blocking our waterways. This way, we will know the composition of garbage that was not properly disposed and get a good sense of the leakages.

Moreover, a good starting point in addressing our solid waste problem is to go back to the basic law, which was supposed to deal with it in the first place. Republic Act No. 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 has many issues such as the Not-In-My-Backyard (NIMBY) attitude against landfills, technical and financial capacity to engineer sanitary landfills, and the lack of budget of the National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC). What is sticking out, however, common to environmental laws, is the issue of enforcement and implementation.
To illustrate, the Ombudsman, in coordination with the NSWMC, is swamped with cases against local government units that continue to operate illegal dumpsites. Also, the compliance with the establishment of a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in every barangay, or at least in a cluster of barangays, has remained very low.
Interestingly, a study on the marine plastic pollution by the McKinsey Center for Business and Environment revealed that: “The Philippines has remarkably high collection rates; the nationwide average is roughly 85% — and near 90% in some dense urban areas, such as Metro Manila. Rates are 80% or lower in less dense areas, such as the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, but even some very rural areas have collection rates above 40%.”
In assessing various solutions for the different solid waste scenarios for the subject countries, the same study presented that: “For instance, the Philippines, with high collection rates, benefited the most from improving open dump sites or finding alternative treatment options such as gasification facilities.”
But are we even open to these “alternative treatment options,” such as waste-to-energy technologies, as another policy intervention?
Lastly, it seems that we miss, or we choose not to discuss, the point that our solid waste problem is mainly caused by our behavior.
Simply look at ATM areas, especially during paydays, where receipts are cluttered around the waste bin, to relate to this fact.
In shaping behavior to address the solid waste problem, we now turn to Republic Act No. 9512 or the Philippine Environmental Education Act, and not just RA 9003. RA 9512 clearly mandates government to “integrate environmental education in its school curricula at all levels, whether public or private.”
What ever happened to this law?
 
Lysander N. Castillo is an Environment Fellow of the Stratbase ADR Institute and Secretary-General of the Philippine Business for Environmental Stewardship.