The City General Services Office (GSO) disclosed that the generated residual waste being hauled out from the city to the Capas-based engineered sanitary landfill (ESL) dropped by approximately 17 percent since the enforcement of the various levels of community quarantine in the country to contain the spread of the dreaded Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).
City General Services Officer Eugene Buyucan disclosed that from the usual 180 to 185 tons of generated residual waste in the city daily prior to the pandemic, the same dropped to around 150 to 155 tons daily since the implementation of different community quarantine status in various parts of the country.
However, he informed members of the city council that more than 400 tons of assorted garbage are being collected from the city’s barangays daily but some of the generated solid waste are classified as non-biodegradable and non-biodegradable which are segregated from the residual waste.
Last March, the local government was compelled to dispose its generated residual waste at the engineered sanitary landfill in Capas, Tarlac which is being managed by the Metro Clark Waste Management Corporation (MCWMC) following the closure order that was issued by the environment department over the sanitary landfill in Urdaneta City, Pangasinan where the city used to dispose its residual waste.
Buyucan added that the current expenses incurred by the local government after the transfer of its waste disposal site to Capas, Tarlac increased to P2,050 per ton which is composed of P1,400 hauling fee by the designated private hauler and P650 per ton tipping fee paid directly to the landfill operator.
The city entered into a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the management of the Capas-based sanitary landfill for the disposal of the generated residual waste in the said facility where the same will be renewed on a monthly basis.
According to him, the city will go back to the Urdaneta sanitary landfill for the dumping of its residual waste once the environment department will lift the closure order that was issued against its operations to allow the operator to address the identified violations of environmental laws, rules and regulations.
He assured local legislators that the city remains steadfast in the collection of the generated waste in the city’s barangays to prevent the unnecessary piling up of the household waste that are being dumped in the identified pick-up points around the city.
Buyucan also called on the residents to continue practicing the segregation of waste at source to help in significantly reducing the volume of waste that is being hauled out of the city that will also contribute in efforts to reduce the estimated expenses in the hauling of garbage to the designated landfill site.
He admitted that there was an increase in the hauling fee being charged by the commissioned private hauler because of the significant change in the distance where the landfill is located compared to the previous site in Urdaneta City. By Dexter A. See
