By Lorie A. Cascaro
LAWYER-ENGINEER Dominic Joseph Felizarta, officer in charge of the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro), said in yesterday Club 888 Forum at The Marco Polo Davao that biodegradable plastic containers will help minimize the use of the city’s sanitary landfill.
The use of plastic and styro foam as food / beverage containers has been banned by law starting June 28, 2012 with all plastic manufacturers advised to use an additive that converts plastic into a biodegradable substance.
The Cenro conducted an information dissemination drive last April 27 for all large stores in the city to ban their use of non-biodegradable containers as mandated by a solid waste management ordinance.
“Imagine pilay nagasto nato sa landfill, P300M. Punuon na nato sa four years then we will have to find another landfill kung mapuno na. Mogasto na pud ta, dili lang na P300M. So, mao nay pinakapurpose pud. Ang sanitary landfill nato dili mapuno kay dako kaayo tag gasto sa atong sanitary landfill pag construct ana,” he said.
The sanitary landfill in New Carmen, Tugbok District is expected to be 100 percent filled in four years.
By reducing residual wastes, mainly from non-biodegradable containers, he said, the sanitary landfill cou;d last up tp ten years.
Felizarta noted that since the implementation of the solid waste management ordinance, the average amount of waste collected in the city was reduced from 500-700 tons to 420 tons a day in 2011, and currently to 402 tons a day.
With the reduction of an average 100 tons of waste a day last year, he said, the city saved P90,000 a day or about P32 million last year in hauling expenditures.
He said this improvement is attributed to the strict implementation of the ordinance, complimenting the Cenro’s enforcers and deputy enforcers in the barangays.
In fact, 2,000 violators of the ordinance had been apprehended and 40 of them fined accordingly while some 400 cases are pending in court.
However, he cited the dilemma wherein some barangay captains may hesitate to apprehend violators as the election period approaches. “I advised them to let their deputized enforcers do the apprehending instead.”
