Govt eyes use of floating garbage landfills in RP

MANILA, Philippines - The government is considering the use of floating garbage landfills, like the ones used in Singapore, especially in areas like Metro Manila, which produces about 4,000 tons of garbage daily. This was revealed on Monday by Environment Secretary Jose "Lito" Atienza Jr, who said: "An island sanitary landfill for Metro Manila may be doable if we can bring the cost down and secure appropriate engineering interventions to address the effects of typhoons." Atienza cited Singapore's Pulau Semaku Off-Shore Sanitary Landfill, a reclaimed 350-hectare island that Singapore expects to become its main disposal facility by 2045. He added the technology for preventing seepage of leachate to the sea and the ground appears to be working in the Semaku landfill. The Semaku landfill was opened in 1999 and is capable of carrying 63 million cubic meters of waste, according to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources website. The DENR noted the landfill also serves as an ecotourism destination for fishing, bird watching, biodiversity, stargazing, mangrove development, and educational and recreational outing. "As leaders, we are constantly searching for models that we can emulate and base our improvements on, and Pulau Semaku is one of them," Atienza said. Atienza was in Singapore recently to attend the Water Leaders Summit and address the Southeast Asia Business Forum. A sanitary landfill is an engineered garbage disposal site designed, constructed, operated and maintained in a manner that poses the least environmental impact. There are some 713 open dump sites operating in the Philippines. But according to Atienza, the open dump sites "are actually the biggest violation one can commit against RA 9003," or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act. They're also one of the major contributors to the worsening problem of global warming. "Making the shift from open dump sites to acceptable disposal facilities as provided for in the law is being intensified by DENR with the support of local governments," Atienza said. "We have already identified 211 potential sanitary landfill sites nationwide to effectively manage the disposal of the country's wastes." According to records of the National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC), there are 16 existing sanitary landfills in the country. There are 19 landfill sites that have already been issued environmental compliance certificates (ECCs) and undergoing construction. - GMANews.TV