A non-government organization is pushing for the strict compliance to waste segregation and banning of single use plastic in Davao City.
Interface Development Interventions Inc. representative Amelou Dawn Catague said during a press briefing for NCCC Supermarket Go Green Revo campaign on Thursday, June 19, that the city’s solid waste woes will be addressed with full implementation of waste segregation and the ban on single use plastic.
“If properly segregated lang ang basura nato, basig dili mag-overflow,” Catague said.
IDIS advocates for the protection and management of life-sustaining watersheds, from ridge-to-reef in South-Central Mindanao.
As an NGO, Catague said, IDIS focuses on the environment’s well-being for the future generation.
“Nowadays, we are focus on banning single-use plastics in Davao City,” added Catague. In line with their advocacy is the creation of a position paper they will be presenting to the city council next month.
Catague, during the briefing, shared data from CENTRO XI indicating the need for the city to be more careful in terms of plastic use. Of the city’s total waste, 50 percent are composed of biodegradable materials, 29 percent are residual and single-used plastics and the remaining 19 percent are recyclables.
IDIS is pushing for the banning single-use plastics, not only for health purposes but also for the elimination of sanitary overflow in the city.
“According to RA 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, …there shall be established a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in every barangay or cluster of barangays.” Catague shared. However, she said, in the city, we only have four (4) operational and functioning MRFs. Davao City has a total of 182 barangays.
MRFs, according to the law, shall receive mixed waste for final sorting, segregation, composting, and recycling. The resulting residual wastes shall be transferred to a long term storage or disposal facility or sanitary landfill.
“So, how come we only have four (4)?” Catague said. True enough, the problem of overflow and overfilled sanitary landfill has caused an alarm to IDIS and also the local government. This issue, she said, needs extra attention.
Davao City, over the years, has become a pioneer in addressing environmental issues. DENR 11, for their part, has launched numerous coastal clean-up drives that has helped in cleaning our coastal areas. Accordingly, data shows that major contributor for waste are single use plastics and ‘sando’ bags.
According to data, on the Davao Gulf alone, a total of 57 marine mammals died from plastic ingestion. “Do we need an increase in numbers to start taking care of our environment?”, Catague said.
“We have seven (7) environment principles and the third one states that we are all connected,” Catagaue emphasized. Hence, for Catague, the need to be aware of everything is needed.
