City General Services Officer on January 4 explained the causes of the delay in garbage collection after the Christmas celebration in the city.
“We are experiencing delays in the collection of garbage in the different barangays due to the volume of garbage generated and the schedule adjustments made to give our hardworking personnel enough time to enjoy the Christmas and New Year celebrations with their loved ones,” Buyucan said.
He said that with the celebration now over, the garbage collection teams “are now back in full force and working to address the garbage collection backlogs.”
He said they expect the garbage collection process to go back to normal in a couple of days.
Buyucan said that as expected the volume of wastes generated in the past weeks increased to an estimate of 650 tons per day as against the average daily waste output of the city of 550 tons being collected on normal days.
“Since December is a peak season for tourism and family gatherings, it follows that the garbage output would also increase. We prepared for it by adjusting our schedules and shifting but we also allowed some time for our teams to also take a break to join their loved ones on these special occasions,” he said.
Buyucan earlier said the city’s present normal day daily waste production of 550 tons is a considerable increase from the pre-pandemic level of 400 tons and 320 tons during the pandemic.
The figure which was based on the result of the 2022 Waste Analysis and Characterization Study (WACS) meant that each person generates .55 kg. per day at present as against the .45 kg per person per day findings in 2016.
Buyucan attributed the rise in waste generation to the new normal lifestyle of the people embracing delivery and online purchases.
“Online purchases require packaging and wrapping and this entails voluminous wastes added to the regular wastes generated,” he said.
To address the increase in wastes, the GSO is stepping up the waste segregation and recycling campaigns in all barangays to reduce the production rate.
The city is also set to build a centralized materials recovery facility (MRF) soon with the required budget already worked out.
Buyucan said It will boost the operations of the five existing barangay-based MRFs which are all contributing to waste reduction efforts.
The office is also continually networking with non-government organizations to amplify programs like zero waste and 3R (Reduce, Recycle, Reuse) through information-education-communication (IEC) campaigns in the communities. By Aileen P. Refuerzo
