THE obvious garbage problem that we note every day finally turned to monster proportions and menacing multiple presences under the deluge that this archipelago has been experiencing.
So far, we have been using landfills to take care of our garbage. Rather, we are dumping carelessly and enormously tons of garbage onto landfills without taking care of the consequences. As it is, we’ve had more than enough deadly accidents occurring in the landfills without the necessary thorough investigation that would lead to banishing the lethal conditions that they are prone to and bring them up to par with efficient landfills. In fact, I am led to wonder if there is a model landfill somewhere in this country whose setup could be followed so that we are more efficient, safer and have less garbage-strewn surroundings.
Segregation of garbage could help to have more organized and orderly landfills but communities that segregate properly are few and far between.
In First World countries with ultra-modern garbage disposal, some cities are said to have automated pneumatic vacuum tubes underground from street inlets as passageways to transport garbage to central units where they are moved to landfills or incinerators. Or, robotic sorters which segregate the garbage and use what is useful to turn to energy. They use optical cameras or lasers to identify plastic or paper and other biodegradable material via robotic arms and then they are put on conveyor belts according to their identity. There is also the collection of organic waste in tanks which process them into biogas or natural fertilizer. All of these are expensive, beyond our present urban conditions to install. At least for now.
Meanwhile, garbage disposal here almost as a rule rather than an exception has the general public prone to dump garbage on streets, empty lots, open spaces, corners or nearby waterways. Needless to add, that is the garbage everywhere condition that we endure (except for gated villages where rigorous rules and sanctions are in place, but their garbage does end up in the same landfills). Actually, local governments, the front line that should address the garbage problem no matter how small, how rural or how financially strapped they are, could make a difference if they make the right rules, manage their strict implementation and be ever alert of landfill use conditions that must be addressed as they arise. I read that Bohol has started a campaign against plastic, a garbage perennial, that is unsustainable for being nonbiodegradable.
Certainly, in small towns and communities or even middle-sized ones, the local government, if serious and knowledgeable, could control garbage disposal so as to keep within the parameters of its ability to dispose of it correctly.
But in the case of large urban areas, like Metro Manila, Cebu or Davao, the bigger population and the more activity that generates garbage needs more than landfill solutions.
Some developed countries are using incineration which has a menacing reputation of polluting the air and causing harm to health. There are environmental groups fiercely against incineration for this reason. Yet lately it seems from what I hear and read that incineration has become less unsafe, cleaner and much more efficient. Its use of high temperature obliterates everything except soil, metal and stone which can be lived with. However, it is very expensive, which a country like us with high national debt, other needs for its funds and missing technological expertise would find beyond its ability to acquire and operate at this point.
Because incineration is expensive, the model is to get something out of the investment which is the end result of the high temperature. And that is to generate electricity. Some countries are happily already in this mode. But there are more steps that have to be taken before arriving at the complete and useful incineration process. Reading Ben Kritz’s column recently, I learned that there has to be enough garbage to keep the incinerator going at optimum level. But, according to Kritz, the amount of daily Metro Manila garbage (9 to 11 tons daily) will not be enough. An incinerator for turning garbage to energy would need more than double that amount every hour to be efficient. It is almost hard to believe that despite our garbage everywhere status, we do not have enough for an incinerator which I expect is very expensive, long to plan and build to operate efficiently and productively.
Even if the current amount of garbage were enough, other steps require that they be gathered quickly and completely, that there are enough conveyances to take them to the incinerator site, which would mean expressways or railroad tracks or use of the present road infrastructure to transport. It would be expected that the incinerator would be far from the urban areas in some rather isolated but large enough site that would be ideal for its operation.
So, what is to be done? Let us be simple under our circumstances of poor garbage disposal. Until we can afford the expensive and ultra-modern garbage disposal technology, a general push for garbage reeducation in schools, communities, industries, markets and other people-gathering sites in both urban and rural areas should be a first step. Segregation of garbage taught and accepted with the necessary accommodations would be a big help. Implementation in its various steps with the necessary sanctions if not followed must be nonnegotiable.
The three leading countries with model garbage disposal are Japan, South Korea and Sweden (there are others, of course). Japanese meticulously sort out their garbage to highly specific categories for the landfill or other disposal methods. Note that their public spaces are clean and with minimal garbage bins because the citizens have accountability on how they dispose of their garbage. They follow the rules. Germany has color-coded bins for paper, organic material, glass and packaging material. Roughly 65 percent of their garbage goes through this segregation. Sweden puts nonrecyclable trash in high-tech incinerators and turns them into energy. It also has well-managed landfills, but through their incinerator garbage disposal of nonrecyclables, the landfills get only 10 percent of the total garbage. This is the incinerator method I mentioned above.
Segregation done meticulously and correctly with a well-designed landfill as destination could be the way for us to go. The everyday use of unsustainable materials like plastic and such others must be discouraged and even banned in our present state of garbage disposal technology which is in crisis. It is time for the whole country, not just some cities and towns, to ban single use plastic and other such unsustainable material still proliferating. Natural materials that can decompose must be the rule rather than the exception in our manufactured items. Here is where the law must be made and utilized. It is essential that more new landfills that are state-of-the-art be designed and made. There is a lack of them now, and those that exist are not well-designed or well-run.
Then of course the education must go beyond garbage disposal to reverence and respect for our natural environment — rivers, open spaces, mountains, even swamps and wetlands. They help in keeping us healthy if we keep them healthy.
Meanwhile, there may be other less expensive garbage disposal methods that we could learn about or even invent. People will always generate garbage but people can also learn how to deal with it so that it does not become a monstrous and menacing problem.