A study to estimate the current spending in managing local solid waste and the future cost to achieve better waste management is now ongoing in four ASEAN countries including the Philippines.
The Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) conducted the research in Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and in our country, from 2018 until 2019.
It is headed by Mr. Michikazu Kojima, the senior economist at ERIA.
Enviroweave, a local consulting firm based in the Philippines, has been contracted by ERIA to conduct surveys, gather data, and visit key cities in the country including Puerto Princesa City and other towns and cities across Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, and inspect the different waste management facilities and landfills in the country.
Puerto Princesa is the first in the country to establish its sanitary landfill in 2004, located in Brgy. Sta. Lourdes, some 12 kilometers from the city’s central business district.
The city’s urban barangays generate some 120 tons of solid waste daily, and garbage trucks and compactors haul these wastes to the sanitary landfill.
The Enviroweave underscores the importance of studying the cost of managing our solid wastes.”The data being gathered is basically what is used to prepare the 10-year solid waste management plan, with a focus on costs and budget allocations,” said Melissa May F. Cardenas, lead consultant of Enviroweave.
Michikazu Kojima, study team leader and senior economist of ERIA, said that the study will not only focus on market size, current spending and other aspects but also the volume of solid waste, to guide the local leaders and residents for better management of waste and at the same time, protecting and conserving our environment.
“The generation of flows of plastic bag in this region will be estimated, ” he said.
Discussion about this post