Waste Disposal Management in Manila: Challenges and Opportunities

1.0 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

1.1

The world today has reached a crucial point wherein the production of solid waste around the globe is considered necessary to be addressed and approached with extreme measures. Waste management approaches may vary from well-developed and developing nations, urban and rural communities, as well as in industrial and residential areas (Waste Management Resources, n.d.). In accordance with this, Capel (n.d.) states that innovations such as anaerobic digestion, Waste to Energy (WTE), Zero Waste Philosophy, and Extended producer responsibility (WEEE) are just some of the well employed methods and ideas that were made to respond to the global problems of waste disposal. In addition, 95% of the accumulated wastes in other countries such as South Africa are disposed in landfills (Kalule and de Wet, 2009). To further support this, there is a law in the United States called the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) that provides the framework and general guidelines for waste management programs (United States Environmental Protection Agency, n.d.). In relation to the previous statement, the US is led by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in efforts to lessen the number of household and commercial waste and to improve rates of recycling in the country (Davis, 2012). Meanwhile, in the context of Asian countries, the countries don’t posses efficient wastewater treatment systems with only 10% of wastewater taken care in the Philippines, 14% in Indonesia, 4% in Vietnam and 9% in India (Asian Development Bank, 2012).

1.2

Waste disposal, which is poorly established in the country, has always been a constant problem faced by the Philippines. In relation to the previous statement, Borja (2006) explains that the Philippines is one of the most populated countries in the world whereas the surmounting amount of garbage has relatively become recurrent. As the situation persists, it eventually caused the Philippines to be known as the home for theses wastes. Nowadays as based current situation, numerous waste disposal methods and laws were regulated in order to answer these problems. To give solutions to those growing problems, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) established laws and regulations which answers the Solid Waste Management (SWM) problems at nationwide levels (Green Peace, 2010). In connection, Republic Act No. 9003 or commonly referred to as the “Ecological Solid Waste Management Act” presents the legal agenda for the Philippines’ systematic and ecological waste management program that would guarantee the safety of public health and of the environment (Environmental Management Bureau, n.d.). In addition, Torres (n.d.) stated that local government units utilized the Republic Act 9003 or the “Ecological Solid Waste Management” wherein they