Bayawan City. Photo courtesy of PNA.
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) secretary Juan Miguel ‘Mitch’ Cuna commended Bayawan City in Negros Oriental as a model for solid waste management as it successfully implemented policies on waste segregation, recycling and disposal.
In a statement, Secretary Cuna highlighted the city’s efforts during a recent visit to the 27.4-hectare Bayawan City Waste Management and Ecology Center in Sitio Omod, Barangay Maninihon.
On seeing it’s success, the environment chief remarked positively on how “proper landfill design is possible” even as he enjoined other local government units (LGUs) to emulate the example of Bayawan.
“Bayawan, which struggled with open dumping in the 1990s, began reforming its system through its Solid Waste Management Plan in 2002. The city introduced mandatory waste segregation at source, systematic collection, recycling and composting through local ordinances,” Cuna recollected.
It was in 2010 when the city established the Bayawan City Waste Management and Ecology Center, which includes a sanitary landfill cell, materials recovery facility, composting unit, special waste vault and septage management system.
The facility now serves all 28 barangay (villages) and about 117,900 residents, as well as five neighboring local government units and three private companies.
Aside from proper disposal and management of garbage, Bayawan also implements a ‘Pay-As-You-Throw’ scheme, which requires residents to place designated stickers on sacks containing residual waste before collection.
Unsegregated waste is not collected, while violators face penalties.
The said measures allow 80 percent of waste to be segregated before final disposal, helping recover recyclable materials and reduce the volume sent to the landfill.
“Bayawan has demonstrated how consistent enforcement of environmental laws, coupled with community participation, could improve solid waste management,” Cuna pointed out.
He underscored the city’s compliance with Republic Act 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, and urged all local governments to adopt similar practices.
