MANILA -- The environment department’s Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) will help some 30 barangays (villages) in the National Capital Region (NCR) to better manage solid waste.
The EMB's NCR regional office will download to local government units (LGUs) this year the funds for building their respective materials recovery facilities (MRFs), which Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act requires, said Mansueto Bolivar, EMB’s Solid Waste Section head.
“Every barangay must have an MRF so we’ll provide the LGUs funds and technical assistance for establishing (their) own facilities,” he said.
He noted that such assistance is part of EMB-NCR’s bid to further raise compliance with RA 9003.
Compliance with RA 9003 also supports government's efforts to rehabilitate Manila Bay, he added.
Under the law, an MRF "includes a solid waste transfer station or sorting station, drop-off center, a composting facility, and a recycling facility."
Bolivar said since 2012, EMB-NCR has been providing NCR's 'barangay' LGUs funding and technical assistance for establishing respective MRFs.
Around 99 NCR barangays already availed of such assistance, he said.
He said the EMB-NCR is awaiting the environment department's release of funds for establishing MRFs this year.
"There's already an allocation of about PHP600,000 per MRF," he said.
He said EMB-NCR will hold a workshop for its LGU-beneficiaries once the agency receives the funds for the MRFs.
"We'll teach the LGUs how to establish MRFs and liquidate funds we'll download for these facilities," he said.
Among 2019 LGU-beneficiaries of EMB-NCR's MRF assistance is Barangay 649, which has jurisdiction over Baseco Compound in Manila's Port Area, Bolivar said.
He said Baseco is a priority area for Manila Bay rehabilitation's clean-up activities due to the volume of solid waste there.
"Solid waste shall refer to all discarded household, commercial waste, non-hazardous institutional and industrial waste, street sweepings, construction debris, agricultural waste, and other non-hazardous/non-toxic solid waste," the RA 9003 said.
Earlier, EMB-NCR estimated Manila's average 2018 waste generation volume at some 1.17 million kg per day - the second highest in NCR after Quezon City's 3.15 million kg per day.
Those estimates are based on corresponding projected population and per capita waste generation in Manila and Quezon City, Bolivar said.
The EMB-NCR estimated that the average daily waste generation volume in NCR in 2018 was lowest in Pateros with 13,752 kg per day. (PNA)
