Gabuya proposes centralized MRF

To improve waste management in Cebu City, a councilor wants to establish a centralized material recovery facility (MRF) within the service area of the Inayawan Sanitary Landfill.

In a proposed ordinance, Councilor Eugenio Gabuya Jr. said the MRF shall receive mixed wastes of final sorting, segregation, composting and recycling.

The resulting residual wastes, on the other hand, shall then be transferred to a long term storage or disposal facility.

Gabuya, head of the committee on public services, said that the establishment of the facility is pursuant to Section 32 of Republic Act (RA) 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.

RA 9003 provides that every barangay or cluster of barangays should allocate a certain parcel of land for the MRF.

Gabuya said that since most of the barangays in the city do not have the funds and land area for the establishment and operation of their own MRF, it would be efficient to have a centralized one in the city.

In an earlier report, the City Environment and Natural Resources Office has revealed that based on their records, only 13 out of 80 barangays have operational MRFs.

These include Barangays Apas, Talamban, Labangon, Kalunasan, Capitol Site, Buhisan, Cogon, Barrio Luz, Poblacion Pardo, T. Padilla, Kamagayan, Mabolo and Sto. Niño.

The most recent MRF was established in Apas last Oct. 2016 through the joint efforts of the barangay and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

“I think it’s time for us to have a centralized MRF to make our waste management more effective and efficient. Why centralized? Because aside from the barangays having no funds and no available land for the facility, we have to consider the social acceptability. People may be complaining about the stench, among others,” Gabuya said in an interview.

He pointed out that the service area of the landfill, which was ordered closed by the Court of Appeals (CA) last December would be a suitable location for the MRF.

The landfill’s service area, which has a total lot area of three hectares (has.), will soon be rehabilitated after it received a P10 million allocation from the City Council last Sept. 5.

Service area

Gabuya, though, clarified that the establishment of the MRF will not be tantamount to reopening the landfill.

“It will be established in the service area, not in the dumping area. Besides, an MRF’s purpose is for recovery and segregation, not as a final disposal destination of wastes. We’d like to assure that we are mindful of the writ of kalikasan issued by the CA,” he said.

Gabuya said the MRF can also be integrated with the proposed waste-to-energy (WTE) facility, that is eyed to occupy at least four has. of lot in the landfill.

With an operational MRF, Gabuya said this will help the city dispose a residual waste of 6.78 percent, since all other wastes will be processed or treated efficiently at the facility.

The centralized MRF shall operate 24/7 depending on the demand and bulk of garbage to be segregated, processed and treated, he said.

Its operations will start at the receiving or tipping area, and will include weighing, registration, inspection, further segrewgation and determination of wastes collected.

All biodegradables will then be segregated further, treated and/or transferred to an applicable disposal or treatment facility.

Non biodegradables, on the other hand, will be processed to existing and future applicable technology after being segregated further.

As for recovered recyclables, these will be baled, compacted or stacked and eventually sold to recycling or manufacturing firms.

Residual materials from mixed waste will be either used as refuse-derived fuel for WTEs, gasifier plants, or disposed to a private sanitary landfill, whichever is practicable.

Based on the draft legislation, the budget requirement may be charged to the Lump Sum Appropriation-Capital Outlay for Solid Waste Management or by contractual arrangements that the City would enter into such as public-private partnerships, joint venture or build operate transfer.

Gabuya’s ordinance was referred to the committee on laws during last week’s City Council regular session. /