The National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC), chaired by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), has partnered with the Coalition of Solid Waste Management Providers (CSWMP) to work on strategic plans to improve the country’s solid waste management.
In an executive committee meeting held last February 14, the NSWMC and CSWMP mapped out plans to preserve the life and increase the number of sanitary landfills nationwide.
Former Undersecretary for Solid Waste Management and Local Government Units Concerns and NSWMC Alternate Chair Benny D. Antiporda expressed the support of the Commission to the initial plans and functions proposed by the CSWMP to strengthen the enforcement of Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.
“We are looking forward that you give more assistance and cooperation with the government wherein we achieve the next level or the peak for solid waste management,” Antiporda said.
CSWMP spokesperson Dwight Ramos said that lands available for sanitary landfills are “only a few to none” that is why the group wants to focus on minimizing wastes that end up in landfills for sustainability.
“To be sustainable, we are looking at how we can also preserve the landfills so that wastes that will be put there will only be residuals and all others will be diverted for composting, recycling, repurposing, upcycling–so our landfills won’t be overloaded. The entire approach system is to really all work together so that there will be sustainability and our resources won’t deplete,” Ramos said.
Under the proposal, the CSWMP will be involved in coming up with policies or systems to address the proper segregation of biodegradable wastes, management of COVID-19 wastes, strategies to support the implementation of the Total Solid Waste Management Solution concept, and a mechanism to rationalize tipping fees.
It will also serve as a network of sanitary operators on sharing of relevant information on proper operation and maintenance, raise awareness among local government units (LGUs) including barangays, relative to proper waste disposal and segregation.
In terms of operations of sanitary landfills, the CSWMP will strengthen the utilization of the 5R schemes—reduce, reuse, recycle, recovery and revenue—among the coalition members, apply technologies to maximize waste reduction, and assist LGUs in the creation of clustered or individual sanitary landfills.
“We, as landfill operators are really competitors and we have not really been helping out each other because of that, but when we were brought together by Usec. Benny, it was a breakthrough. We realized that probably even as competitors, there can be cooperation for the good of the environment and of RA 9003,” Ramos said.
He also said that the Coalition aims to strengthen the environmental compliance in the sanitary landfill operations, properly manage and monitor treated healthcare and hazardous wastes, and self-monitor its accomplishment as their own initiative.
The institution of CSWMP, presently composed of 11 organizations, was created in February 2021 with the aim of encouraging greater private sector participation in solid waste management.
With this, the NSWMC En Banc meeting held on February 22 also approved NSWMC No. 1505, Series of 2022, to empower the CSWMP in implementing the Total Solid Waste Management Solution to optimize waste recovery and utilization in the sanitary landfills prior to disposal.
The NSWMC has approved for CSWMP to give technical assistance to the Commission in line with existing rules and regulations, participate in NSWMC Executive Committee meetings and En Banc meetings, impart recommendations in the deliberation of 10-year solid waste management plans or to prescribe policies related to provision of solid waste management services, and recommend the establishment of one sanitary landfill to be established in a city or municipality or a cluster of cities or municipalities. ###
