Sen. Cynthia Villar said yesterday that waste management and recycling efforts should continue despite the enhanced community quarantine being imposed in Luzon and other parts of the country.
The chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources said this would prevent additional health and sanitation problems amid the novel coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic.
“We continue to generate waste even if we are under quarantine. Garbage will pile up if these are not collected and overwhelm our landfills if not properly segregated and recycled,” Villar said.
She specifically stressed the need to properly manage used masks and gloves and other hazardous waste which could easily mix with household wastes.
Villar urged local government units to “implement environmentally-sound practices alongside measures battling the spread of COVID-19.”
She cited as an example her bailiwick Las Piñas City which composting and recycling facilities still operate to manage the its waste.
This was also used as a measure to continue to provide livelihood to residents.
According to the lawmaker, “bio-men” or their barangay-employed collectors of kitchen wastes continue to bike around the city. Their kitchen waste collections are turned over to composting and vermi-composting centers in their villages to be converted into organic fertilizers.
“In a month, we produce 70 tons of fertilizer and give them out to farmers in nearby provinces. In Metro Manila, there are also urban gardeners and vegetable farmers who benefit from this free farm input,” Villar said. (Vanne Terrazola)
