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By Sherryl Anne G. Quito Senior
Reporter
Editor’s note: The earlier
segments covered the advantages and problems with using incineration
in the disposal of hazardous medical wastes. The previous parts also
reported that government has not resorted to effective nonburn
methods of disposal, because money is siphoned off to pay for loans
used to acquire incinerators that were later made illegal under
stricter environmental laws.
Last of three parts
With the ban on incinerators in
the country, medical and other solid wastes are disposed via the
conventional method—landfills. This is viewed as the most likely
alternative to incineration. With the different methods of
medical-waste disposal, landfill is the most common and probably
accounts for more than 90 percent of the nation’s municipal
refuse.
The Metro Manila Development
Authority (MMDA) said, “It is the most cost-effective method of
disposal, with collection and
transportation accounting for 75 percent of the total cost.”
A landfill’s lining and contouring compacts the uppermost cover
layer, diverting drainage, and selecting proper soil in sites not
subject to flooding or high groundwater levels.
A landfill is a site for the
disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of
waste treatment. Historically, landfills have been the most common
methods of organized waste disposal and remain so in many places
around the world. Landfills may include internal waste disposal
sites as well as sites used by many producers. Many landfills are
also used for other waste-management purposes, such as the temporary
storage, consolidation and transfer, or processing of waste material
(sorting, treatment or recycling). A landfill also may refer to
ground that has been filled in with soil, instead of waste
materials, so that it can be used for a specific purpose, such as
for building houses. Unless such ground is stabilized, it may
experience severe shaking or liquefaction in a large earthquake.
Special
Report
trash talk
· Hazardous waste landfills are
waste disposal units constructed to be secure repositories for
material that present a serious hazard to human health, such as
high-level radioactive waste. With this type, the law restricts the
kinds of waste it may handle.
· Sanitary landfills (also
called modern, engineered or secure landfills) usually have physical
barriers such as liners, collection systems and procedures to
protect the public from exposure to the disposed waste. The term
sanitary landfill normally refers to those where municipal solid
waste is disposed of, as well as other wastes high in organic
material.
· Inert waste landfills
are waste-disposal units that receive waste which are chemically and
physically stable and do not undergo decomposition, such as sand,
bricks, concrete or gravel.
· Dumps (simply called
landfills) are landfills that are not engineered with the special
protective measures required by sanitary landfills. They are most
common in rural, remote and developing areas.
Local practice
In the Philippines, sanitary
landfills are commonly used in disposing medical wastes and solid
wastes in general. Some local authorities have found it difficult to
locate new landfills. These authorities may charge a fee or levy in
order to discourage waste and to recover the costs of site
operations. Some landfills are operated for profit as commercial
businesses. Many landfills, however, are publicly operated and
funded. Locating new landfills is also among the major concerns of
local government units.
Rizal Governor Casimiro Ynares
3rd and Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman Bayani Fernando
are currently discussing the authorities’ request for the
Rodriguez landfill to accommodate Metro Manila trash for six more
months. If talks go sour, trash coming from Makati, Pasig,
Mandaluyong and San Juan will most likely be affected.
On the other hand, officials from
the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and
members of environmental groups believe the operation of landfills
should be monitored, controlled and operated.
“We need the support of local
government officials to effectively implement the solid waste
management law. Local executives may identify alternative and
suitable sites in place of their present open dumps in conformity
with the Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act 9003,”
a DENR official said, referring to the law, which is also known as
the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.
RA 9003 also provides that all
local governments are mandated to convert their open dumps into
controlled dumps in accordance with the guidelines set in Section 41
of this law, particularly the Criteria for Establishing a Sanitary
Landfill.
In view of the risks inherent to
open dumping activities especially to the health of the people
living nearby and the environment, all open dumps should be closed,
cleaned up and rehabilitated, the environment department added.
Heap of problems
Like incineration, a number of
adverse impacts occur from landfill operations. These impacts can
vary from accidents to toxic waste emission. One of the most
celebrated landfill-related accidents is the Payatas landfill
landslide. On July 10, 2000, tragedy literally befell a slum
community in Payatas, Quezon City, where a hill of garbage
overlooking the area caved in, killing 218 people and leaving 300
families homeless, scavengers included.
“In rural areas, the
proliferation of garbage dumps has also taken over forest areas,
watersheds, and even coastal zones, spreading leachate to otherwise
productive soil and water resources and emitting toxic gases into
the air,” Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan
PNE) national coordinator Clemente Bautista Jr. said.
“The waste crisis is worsening
at a rapid rate. The national government has so far failed to
provide and implement a wide-reaching and viable waste management
program which can efficiently process and treat around 13 billion
kilos of solid wastes generated annually by around 89 million
Filipinos,” Bautista added.
In 2006, then-environment and
natural resources Secretary Angelo Reyes issued a warning to
residents of Smokey Mountain in Manila’s Tondo district after
experts reported that a huge amount of methane is trapped under the
former dump. This could be torched by accident and could result in
an explosion that would kill people and destroy property.
Methane—a colorless, odorless
gas—is used primarily as fuel, such as the cooking gas or
liquefied petroleum gas used in households. Concentrations of
methane can be found anywhere in natural surroundings. Experts
confirmed that Smokey Mountain residents, who now comprise 30,000
families, are exposed daily not only to the dangers of a methane
explosion. They are also at risk of contracting cancer or other
serious diseases because of poor sanitation.
All waste disposal methods have
their advantages and disadvantages. No matter what waste disposal
method is used—incineration or landfills—society cannot deny the
fact that both pose negative effects biologically to both man and
his environment. The best method of reducing waste disposals’
negative effect on society is perhaps simply to prevent garbage
generation.
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