BAGUIO CITY, Philippines –In what may be the summer capital’s third attempt to end its garbage crisis, the newly formed City Development Council (CDC) approved on Wednesday the purchase of Japanese bio-composting technology to be used by November.
The CDC was formed to refine and approve the city’s proposed P1.9-billion budget for 2011, which would give the city a new fleet of garbage trucks.
80-88 tons of organic waste
Installing two units of the Environmental Recycling System (ERS) means that the city could process into compost 80 to 88 tons of organic waste each day, while residual trash would be collected by the ERS manufacturer as raw materials for back filling operations or for making hollow blocks, said Mayor Mauricio Domogan, who led the CDC meeting.
The ERS units are distributed by Protech Marketing, a subsidiary of the STG Corp. of Japan, said Cordelia Lacsamana, city environment officer.
The system runs on a special fermentation process that relies on microorganisms called “shimose,” according to a Protech video presentation that was shown at the assembly.
The machines have become the centerpiece of Domogan’s solid waste management program.
In 2008, the city started hauling 150 tons of garbage daily to a commercial landfill in Capas, Tarlac, when a group of villagers barricaded the city’s only dump, leaving heaps of uncollected garbage on major city streets.
The daily garbage trips to Capas preempted what could have been a public health hazard, and allowed city officials to begin exploring different sites for an ecological sanitary landfill.
Former Mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr. and other city officials persuaded former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to open up portions of national reservations in Baguio as sites of materials recovery facilities (MRFs) or recycling centers.
Both Malacañang and the city government shelled out funds to build MRFs that would have served a cluster of villages.
The purchase of ERS compels the government to shelve the MRF program, Domogan told the CDC.
He said the garbage collection system could be modified so all garbage trucks would be directed to the two ERS units, instead of to sorting areas set up before the garbage is shipped out to Capas, he said.
‘Long-term solution’
Each ERS unit costs P64 million, but the units come with guarantees, including a buy-back option for compost produced by the city government. Protech offered to buy each kilogram of compost for P6.
A feasibility study undertaken by the City Environment and Parks Management Office showed that the city’s return on investment could reach P20 million from the sale of compost alone.
Domogan said the government has not shelved plans to build a sanitary landfill although the ERS “is a long-term solution.”
Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer Northern Luzon
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