Valley launches 'Green Market' program

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet — The local government launched last week the ‘Green Market’ program which helps reduce waste coming from the public market and other business establishments.

The ‘Green Market’ program is anchored on the ordinance regulating the use of plastics, styrofoam and other non-biodegradable materials and use of alternative materials.

Mayor Romeo Salda urged the cooperation of stakeholders to support the program in order to achieve the goal of reducing garbage waste.

The concept was an output of the members of the public market and the Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office (MENRO) in a write shop carried out by the Environment and Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources last July.

With the contribution of the public market and other business establishments in waste collection and the huge volume collected, Winston Felipe, president of the Public Market 2002 agreed that the implementation should start with the sector.

Although it may be difficult to undertake, Felipe said it will be done gradually and it will have a great impact.

Among the strategies in undertaking the program include employing a personnel to monitor the regulation of the use of ‘sando’ bag, presence of two to three trash bins within each stall, establishment of material recovery facility, imposition of penalty to violations, and adherence to prescribed containers in restaurants and wet markets.

MENRO head Arthur Pedro said their records show that the daily volume of wastes collected is equivalent to nine tons, the bulk of which is biodegradable. For the recyclables collected, most are plastics and styrofor.

Plastic bags cannot be compacted and are filled up with water which is compounding the mound of garbage in the landfill unless shredded. With so much wastes collected, the newly opened cell number 3 of the sanitary landfill in barangay Alno which has expected longer life span is now reduced and may be filled up until end of the year, Salda said.

Councilor Roderick Awingan, who authored the ordinance in 2015, urged the public to reduce their waste.

“In our own way reduce trash by reducing use of plastics,” he said.

He encouraged business establishments make use of alternative bag containers such as paper bags and biodegradable containers.