Waste and toxic watchdog EcoWaste Coalition reported that piles of garbage it dubbed as “holitrash (holiday + trash) greeted the metropolis on the first day of 2018.
The group said the mixed garbage comprised food waste, beverage and food containers, paper and plastic packaging, remnants of firecrackers and fireworks and discards from the customary end of year cleaning such as busted lamps and other unwanted stuff left abandoned on streets and in market areas of Caloocan, Makati, Manila, Quezon and Valenzuela Cities.
“The blanket disposal of all sorts of discards from the lively celebrations, including useful materials that should have been reused, recycled or composted, is deplorable. Waste isn’t ‘waste’ until it’s wasted,” commented Daniel Alejandre, Zero Waste Campaigner, EcoWaste Coalition.
“Waste becomes a threat to public health and environment if it is not properly sorted out and managed in a safe manner that will not contaminate the surroundings, particularly the air we breathe, the water we drink, and our sources of food, including the rivers and the oceans,” he added.
The National Solid Waste Management Commission said Metro Manila generates about 9,213 tons of garbage per day of which 52 percent are biodegradables, 41 percent recyclables and 7 percent residuals.
The national waste generation is estimated at 40,087 tons per day.
“Garbage trucks and dumps should not be bursting at the seams if we consume responsibly and if we keep discards separated so that the biodegradable fraction is composted or fed to animals and the non-biodegradable fraction is returned to the factories for recycling,” Alejandre pointed out.
“It is possible to further cut the percentage of residuals if companies will take responsibility for products and packaging materials that are difficult to recycle such as sachet packaging,” he added. (Chito Chavez)