‘REUSE, REPURPOSE’

FROM PAGE 1

Campaign materials that are very soiled are being shredded.

Ravena said the shreds would be turned over to a cement manufacturing company that have expressed interest to use then as alternative fuel in its cement manufacturing plant.

The shredding is being done at the city government’s Materials Recovery Facility i n Barangay Calajunan, Mandurriao district.

The cement manufacturing company will barter t he shredded campaign materials with cement that the city government could use for whatever purpose that may serve the city best.

On the other hand, campaign materials that are not soiled would be made into bags, said Ravena.

In fact today, he said, there’s a scheduled meeting with the Uswag Calajunan Livelihood Association, a group of waste pickers that will do the sewing.

A zero waste advocacy organization recently pitched f or t he safe reusing and repurposing of campaign materials to conserve resources and minimize the volume of post- election garbage to be disposed of.

The EcoWaste Coalition appealed to both winning and losing candidates to take the lead in preventing campaign materials from being thrown in landfills, burned in cement kilns and i ncinerators or dumped in the oceans.

“Regardless of your poll standing, we appeal to all candidates to exemplify your concern for Mother Earth and for public welfare by finding ways to prevent your publicity materials from ending up in waste dumps and furnaces and, God forbid, the oceans,” said Aileen Lucero, national c o o r d i n a t o r, EcoWa s t e Coalition.

“Dumping and burning campaign materials will be a huge waste of resources, including energy, consumed i n making the seemingly incalculable number of posters, leaflets and other popular paraphernalia used for the May 2022 national and local polls,” she said. “It will further result in environmental pollution.”

Whi l e r e u s i n g a n d repurposing is surely not a perfect solution, especially for campaign materials laden with harmful chemicals, it will no doubt lessen the volume of trash that is collected and hauled to disposal facilities, or get spilled into the natural environment, including water bodies, Lucero said.

In addition to decreased garbage volume, reusing and repurposing campaign materials will reduce disposal costs, prevent releases of chemical pollutants i nto the environment, conserve r e s o u r c e s a n d i n s t i l l environmental awareness and responsibility among people, she added./