Garbage problem everybody’s business — DENR

Efforts to rehabilitate Manila Bay would be futile if there is no effective implementation of solid waste management in the localities surrounding the historic water body

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) reiterated that the country’s perennial garbage problem is not just for the government to solve but should be everyone’s business.

This was emphasized by DENR Undersecretary for Solid Waste Management and Local Government Units (LGU) Concerns Benny Antiporda after Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu declared that the country, particularly Metro Manila, “is in the middle of a garbage crisis.”

“Solid waste management is not the government’s responsibility alone, it is everyone’s business,” said Antiporda, who also chairs the National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC).

Cimatu’s declaration came amid government efforts to revive the heavily-polluted Manila Bay, which has become a repository of trash and untreated sewage from households and businesses in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

Antiporda pointed out that efforts to rehabilitate Manila Bay would be futile if there is no effective implementation of solid waste management in the localities surrounding the historic water body.

He added that LGU play a crucial role in solid waste management as these are tasked to ensure proper waste segregation and disposal under Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.

The law also requires LGU to come up with respective 10-year Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP) to convert open dumpsites into sanitary landfills.

Antiporda said the NSWMC had already fast-tracked the approval of SWMPs of hundreds of LGU nationwide, while the DENR shut down some open dumpsites and filed criminal and administrative charges against local officials allowing the operation of these dumpsites that pose serious threats to the environment and public health.