BAGUIO CITY – The city government accessed some P2.4 million from the environment department exclusively for the put up of four materials recovery facilities (MRFs) in four barangays in the city to help address the city’s solid waste disposal problem and empower barangays to actively participate in the proper waste disposal practices.
City General Services Officer Eugene Buyucan said the funds were already downloaded by the environment to the city government and were placed under a trust fund until the implementation of these projects shall have been bid out by the beneficiary barangays which are Gibraltar, Lualhati, Bakakeng Central and Irisan.
Earlier, the environment department earmarked around P600,000 each for the proposed MRFs in the aforesaid barangays to help in the proper disposal of garbage in the barangay level before the collection of the residual waste will be done by the city’s garbage trucks.
The city general services officer claimed the ball now lies with the beneficiary barangays as barangay officials will have to closely coordinate with the City Buildings and Architecture Office (CBAO) for the designing of the proposed MRFs.
The MRFs will serve as a repository are for the recyclable garbage from the households in the said barangays to help reduce the volume of garbage being collected by the garbage collectors during the scheduled collection of garbage in the pick up points in the said barangays.
Buyucan said the establishment of MRFs in the different barangays will definitely contribute in the efforts of the city government to reduce the volume of collected garbage and for residents and barangay officials to generate additional income from the sale of the recyclable materials from the households.
Aside from the replacement of open dumpsites to controlled dump facilities and engineered sanitary landfills, pertinent provisions of Republic Act (RA) 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, also mandates the put up of materials recovery facilities as part of a well organized solid waste management in the local level.
The city produces over 400 tons of mixed waste daily with approximately 50 percent classified as biodegradable and the remaining 50 percent recyclables or residual waste.
Buyucan urged residents and visitors to be responsible and continue practicing segregation of waste at source to help reduce the volume of waste being hauled out of the city.
He called on the people in the different barangays to learn to practice proper composting to produce organic fertilizer for their backyard gardens as part of the urban gardening program of the local government.
By Dexter A. See