The Philippine Online Chronicles

Most of the garbage along Manila Bay, says an audit of several environmental groups, consist mostly of plastic discards, posing a danger to wildlife.

The EcoWaste Coalition, together with Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), Greenpeace and 11 other civil society organizations have collected 728 liters of waste and segregated it into 12 classifications: plastic bags, composites, polystyrene, hard plastics, plastic bottles, hazardous wastes, rubber, metal, glass, biodegradables, nappies, and other discards.

"Of the 728 liters of collected debris, 75.55 percent was composed of plastic discards, mostly plastic bags and polystyrene products." EcoWaste said in its blog.

Biodegradable materials comprise 10.99 percent of collected trash, while discarded glass and metals make up 5.77 percent and 2.2 percent of the haul, respectively. Hazardous waste were also found present at 1.38 percent.

The said waste collection and audit is a part of the 10^th anniversary celebrations of both GAIA and Greenpeace Southeast Asia.

Penchant to plastics

According to EcoWaste, a 2006 waste audit by GAIA found that plastic discards also ranked as the top solid waste polluter at the Manila Bay, at 76 percent.

“Considering the outgoing current, we still collected quite a volume of trash and it is unfortunate that plastic items led by plastic bags and styrofoam products remain to be the prime visible pollutants of Manila Bay,” the blog quoted Gigie Cruz of GAIA.

Cruz said that their present findings reinforced what they already know about plastics being a problem to the environment. “Our penchant for patronizing disposable products magnifies this problem,” she reportedly added.

She also expressed her pleasure as she cited several bills in the Congress which propose phasing out, banning, and taxing plastic bags. GAIA had cited such laws as timely and important, one of which is House Bill (HB) 127 authored by Albay 2^nd District Representative Al Francis Bichara seeking for an “environmental levy” for plastic bags used to pack shop purchases.

Meanwhile, GAIA also lauded HB 651 authored by Aurora Rep. Sonny Angara mandating the use of recyclable or biodegradable materials for the packaging of consumer products, and HB 2109 co-authored by Cagayan de Oro 2^nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez and Abante Mindanao Rep. Maximo Rodriguez Jr. The latter bill seeks banning the use of plastic bags in groceries, restaurants, and other establishments.

Waste management act
In 2001, Republic Act (RA) 9003, otherwise known as the Ecological and Solid Waste Management Act, was enacted to minimize to the garbage problem in the country through systematic, comprehensive and economic solid waste management program.

Among its general provisions were to ensure protection of public health and environment and to utilize environmentally-sound methods that maximize the utilization of valuable resources and encourage resource conservation and recovery.

The said act also pushes the state to set guidelines and targets for solid waste avoidance and volume reduction through source reduction and waste minimization measures that include composting, recycling, re-use, recovery and others, before collection, treatment and disposal following ecologically-safe practices. While it seeks to ensure proper waste segregation, it shies away from incineration or burning.

Another ecological conservation blog says that waste mismanagement leads to serious environmental consequences such as ground and surface water contamination, local flooding, air pollution, exposure to toxins, and spread of disease. Many of the disposal sites reportedly contain infectious material threatening sanitation workers and waste-pickers.

There are about a thousand open and controlled dump sites existing in the country, the most prominent of which are those found in Antipolo and Rodriguez in Rizal; Baguio City; Calapan, Oriental Mindoro; Carmen, Cagayan de Oro; Mandurriao, Iloilo City; Obando, Bulacan; and San Pedro, Laguna.

Minimal impact

The EcoWaste blog also said that barangay, city, and municipal ordinances have provided sanctions and penalties for non-compliance with the act. Aside from these, campaigns, seminars and other community activities were launched by various private groups to help the local governments curb the garbage problem.

But these efforts to promote waste segregation have had minimal impact despite the presence of the act, said environmentalists. In 2008, the EcoWaste projected that the annual waste generation in the Philippines will grow to 40 percent this year, pointing population growth and economic development as the cause.

RA 9003 also called for the establishment of materials recovery facilities (MRFs) in every barangay or cluster of barangays. As of 2008, there were only 1,923 MRFs existing, serving 2,133 barangays out of 41,975 barangays throughout the country.

According to the Department of Health, these establishments serve as solid waste transfer stations or sorting stations, drop off centers, composting and recycling facilities.