Tinglayan LGU to finalize 10-year SWM plan for approval, implementation

Tinglayan, Kalinga – The Local Government of Tinglayan, through its Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office (MENRO), is currently finalizing the local government’s 10-year Solid Waste Management Plan for the period 2019 to 2029.

This is in compliance to Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 where the local government units (LGUs) from the province, city and municipality are mandated to craft an integrated solid waste management plan based on the 3Rs (reduce, reuse and recycling) to lessen the generation of waste in the localities.

According to Pacita Dangi of MENRO, the plan which contains proper waste management interventions has been crafted in 2017, but it is still being reviewed for approval by the Environmental Management Bureau before endorsing it to the National Solid Waste Management Commission.

“Adda ngay gamin iti certain part of the plan nga ikwes-question da due to lack of facility such as the temporary residual containment area a madama met lang nga ikom-comply mi,” Dangi said.

Though the plan is still on the process of approval, the LGU has already started several activities and programs penned in the plan. Once approved, the LGU of Tinglayan shall utilize the plan as basis in implementing programs and activities to sustain the environmental conservation and protection efforts of the LGU, Dangi added.

Further, Dangi explained that mong the strategies to be employed include the continuous information education campaign on proper waste segregation and management, strict monitoring and implementation of municipal and barangay ordinances, capacity building seminars for Municipal Solid Waste Management Board and Barangay Solid Waste Management Committee (BSWMC), improvement and maintenance of existing centralized municipal recovery facility, among others.

Conduct of Competitions in Support to the Program

To highlight their campaigns and give emphasis on advocating environmental protection and preservation, the LGU has also conducted yearly competitions wherein winners are given monetary incentives. These include:

· Search for Healthy Barangay- 20 barangays of the municipality will be judge with the criteria of environmental concerns, good governance and service delivery.

· Search for Junior Hulk Academy – competition between schools with a criteria including environmental beautification with the use of recycled materials, functionalities of school organizations and student discipline in solid waste management

· Search for Green Hand Innovation (individual competition wherein participants showcase their own innovation on how to use recycled materials that are commonly seen in their barangay

· Search for Model Household – a search conducted for each of the 20 barangays. Each of the barangays will be submitting a list of 3 households in their barangay for further evaluation and assessment by the evaluation and assessment team. Winners are awarded prizes set by the committee.

Disposal of waste

Concerning the disposal of waste, the non-biodegradable ones are being deposited in the municipal material recovery facility, while the biodegradable waste are directly used as food for backyard animals, dump into compost pits and as fertilizers for their gardens.

“Though biodegradable ti ad-adu ti percentage na, manageable met ta kitchen waste da. Dagituy dagidiay food scraps, fruits ken dagidiay nagukisan da,” Dangi said.

Dangi narrated that they forged a memorandum of agreement to a certain junk shop which directly buy plastics and bottles being deposited into the Municipal recovery facility.

“Diay proceeds, isub-submit mi idiay treasury, kasla met lang nga income-generating,” she added.

Other non-biodegradable materials such as broken glass and plastics, she said, are shredded and mixed into cement to make hollow blocks.

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