05/07/2012 [ tribune.net.ph ]
An advocate for zero waste resource
management has urged the government and the citizens to rally behind a proven
solution to society’s chronic problem with stinking garbage, toxic gases and
depleted soils: decentralized composting.
The EcoWaste Coalition yesterday gave
a big push to the biological breaking down of organic discards as the
International Composting Awareness Week is observed from May 6 to 12.
“The intensive composting of
biodegradable discards at all areas and levels of waste generation can
dramatically reduce the volume of discards assigned for disposal by at least 50
per cent in most cities and municipalities,” said Christina Vergara, Zero Waste
Project officer of EcoWaste Coalition.
According to the National Solid Waste
Management Commission, the entire country generates some 35,430 tons of waste
per day, of which some 8,000 tons come from Metro Manila.
Of these, 50 percent are food and
other organic discards, 25 percent plastics, 12 percent paper, 5 percent
metals, 3 percent glass, 1 percent hazardous waste and 4 percent residual
waste.
“Decentralized composting will
translate to millions of savings for our cash-strapped local government units
due to avoided disposal costs,” she pointed out.
“By separating organic discards at
source, we reduce the risk of contaminating recyclable materials and, as a
result, increase the value of recyclables and make them safer for waste workers
to handle and recycle,” she added.
“Composting further reduces the
emission of greenhouse gases such as methane, which is about 70 times stronger
than carbon dioxide in terms of trapping heat, by keeping food, garden, farm
and other organic discards out of dumpsites and landfills,” she said.
The country has over a thousand waste
disposal facilities, including 1,027 open and controlled dumpsites long
forbidden by Republic Act 9003, the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, as
well as “sanitary” landfills, cement kilns and incinerators, the EcoWaste
Coalition said.
Citing information from the United
Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Unescap), the
EcoWaste Coalition emphasized the benefits of applying compost as fertilizer in
agriculture.
According to the Unescap’s Sustainable
Urban Development Section, compost:
1. Lightens heavy soils, allowing
better infiltration of both air and water.
2. Enhances and improves the soil’s
structure so that it becomes less subject to erosion by either water or wind.
3. Adds nutrients and trace materials
to the soil, stimulating biological activity and encouraging vigorous plant
rooting systems.
4. Enables soil to retain nutrients
and moisture, preventing them from being leached out of the soil and into the
ground water.
“With composting, we lessen our
dependence to chemical farming and agriculture, while producing safe organic
food for our people,” Vergara said.
“It will surely boost the
implementation of the Organic Agriculture Act of 2010, especially in rural areas,
provided the compost is clean and free of toxics,” she added.
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