Waste Management When we hear the word waste, we usually think about garbage, used materials, leftover food,

and the like. However, with the arrival of new technology and an increased awareness for the preservation of the environment and finding efficient uses for the earths scarce resources, we have come to the definition of waste as a resource out of place. As the saying goes, one persons trash is another persons treasure. New innovations enable us to make use of these out of place resources into more productive ways. Along with these innovations came the concept of waste management.

Waste management is collecting, transporting, processing, recycling and/or disposal of waste, the materials produced after human activity. This is done for health reasons, as well as for aesthetic reasons as well. Who would want their trash lying around in front of their doorstep anyway? Waste management procedures generally differ on each nation, state, and community. There are also varying concepts under waste management that are known all throughout the world: waste hierarchy, extended producer responsibility, and the polluter pays principle. Waste hierarchy is more commonly known as the 3Rs: reduce, reuse and recycle. It aims to exhaust the resources as much as possible in order to eliminate, or at least minimize, waste. Extended producer responsibility refers to the firms accountability to their products in its entire lifespan, from manufacturing it to disposing it. Finally, the polluter pays principle is as the name suggests, about fining companies that cause pollution. As the second principle implies, these production companies have the responsibility on their products, in order to minimize waste and not cause harm to the environment.

Like most of the countries today, the Philippines are also involved in the campaign to reduce waste, particularly solid waste. Its government has implemented two major laws: R.A. 8749, also known as the Clean Air Act, which is an act that includes provisions that bans the use of incinerators as a form of trash disposal, and R.A. 9003, the Solid Waste Management Act, which promotes recycling and composting as forms of waste disposal. R.A. 9003 has specific features, some are: a. Creation of the National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC), the National Ecology Center (NEC) and the Solid Waste Management Board in every province, city

and municipality in the country. The NSWMC shall be responsible in the formulation of the National Solid Waste Management Framework and other policies on solid waste, in overseeing the implementation of solid waste management plans and the management of the solid waste management fund. The NEC, on the other hand, shall be responsible for consulting, information, training and networking services relative to the implementation of R.A.No. 9003. The Solid Waste Management Board of provinces, cities and municipalities shall be responsible for the development of their respective solid waste management plans. b. Formulation of the National Solid Waste Management Framework; 10-year solid management plans by local government units consistent with the National Solid Waste Management Framework; c. Mandatory segregation of solid waste to be conducted primarily at the source such as household, institutional, industrial, commercial and agricultural sources; d. Setting of minimum requirements to ensure systematic collection and transport of wastes and the proper protection of the health of garbage collectors; e. Establishment of reclamation programs and buy-back centers for recyclable and toxic materials; f. Promotion of eco-labeling in local products and services; g. Prohibition on non-environmentally acceptable products and packaging; h. Establishment of Materials Recovery Facility in every barangay or cluster of barangays; i. Prohibition against the use of open dumps; j. Setting of guidelines/criteria for the establishment of controlled dumps and sanitary landfills; k. Provision of rewards, incentives both fiscal and non-fiscal, financial assistance, grants and the like to encourage LGUs and the general public to undertake effective solid waste management; and l. Promotion of research on solid waste management and environmental education in the formal and non-formal sectors.

Aforementioned were three kinds of waste disposal processes, which will be discussed further from hereon. There are four major types of waste disposal processes: recycling/recovery, composting, incineration, and landfilling/open dumping. Recycling and recovery is only applicable to materials which are still usable, like ferrous and non-ferrous metals, construction debris, scrap tires, paper/cardboard, plastics, textiles (including cloth and leather), glass, wood/timber, animal bones/feathers, waste oil and grease, and cinders/ashes. In order to accomplish this, separation of the recyclables from the non-recyclables must be done, either at the source of the waste, during its collection, or at the disposal site itself.

Composting refers to the burying of biodegradable materials in soil as a sort of fertilizer. However, this is not practiced as widely as it is supposed to for certain reasons including: high operating and maintenance costs, poor maintenance and operation of facilities, incomplete separation of non-compostables, such as, plastics and glass, and high cost of compost compared to commercial fertilizers.

Another waste disposal method is incineration. It involves the burning of trash in extremely high temperatures. This used to be a popular form of waste disposal method; however, due to concerns regarding air pollution, as burning garbage produces a lot of it, this procedure has been banned in several countries, including the Philippines.

Lastly, landfilling is the perhaps the most common form of waste disposal, next to open dumping, due to its relatively cheaper costs. It involves dumping of garbage in a specific site, then covering it with soil, and repeating the process. When garbage is simply dumped and not covered with soil, it is considered as open dumping. The location of the dumpsite is highly crucial, as it must be far from surface and groundwater, to avoid contamination, the type of soil and rock it lays on must also be considered, as well as the amount of precipitation and the topographic relief of that area Unless these criteria are complied with, the landfill will not be considered sanitary. This table shows the disposal methods of several ASEAN countries:

Disposal Methods for Municipal Solid Waste in Selected ASEAN Countries Disposal Methods (%) Country Composting Indonesia Malaysia Myanmar Philippines Singapore 15 10 5 10 10 **(0 in 2001) 10 Open dumping 60 50 80 75 65 **(67 in 2001) 70 Landfilling 10 30 10 10 30 *(10 in 2002) 5 **(32 in 2001) Incineration 2 5 70 *(90 in 2002) 5 **(1 in 2001) Others 13 5 5 5 15 **(0 in 2001) 20

Thailand Vietnam Source: ENV 1997

*Communication with National Environment Agency officials **Draft Annual Report, The State of Pollution, Thailand B. E.2544 (2001), Pollution Control Department 2002