DENR urges public to help LGUs cut waste generation

IN LINE with the celebration of the Zero Waste Month, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources urged Davaoenos to help minimize waste at source though a change in values.

According to Jay Kristoffer Bawi-in, senior environment management specialist of the DENR’s Environmental Management Bureau, the city generates 900 tons of garbage per day based on the waste analysis and characterization study (WACS). Half of the volume is biodegradable.

“That is why we encourage the public to do backyard composting because half of the collected waste is biodegradable,” Bawi-in said.

“We target the values of the public. The laws of the LGUs and even the barangays are already in place. But the problem is the public,” he added.

According to Bawi-in, helping the LGU reduce its problem in waste disposal should begin at the household level.

“Only the residual wastes should be collected by the city because the biodegradables are for composting, and the recyclables are for recycling,” he said.

For the whole region, Bawi-in said that the city contributes the biggest for waste generation. “The city is the biggest contributor to the waste generation of the whole Davao region especially it has the most barangays in the region - 182 barangays,” he said.

However, there are no means yet to classify the kinds of waste generated per local government unit.

“We still need to enact the proposed guidelines by the Solid Waste Management Commission to standardize WACS to be able to determine the total waste generation per LGU and the percentages for recyclable, residual, and special wastes,” he explained.