THE WORLD’S BIGGEST PLASTICS DUMPERS
By Anton Antonio
October 17, 2015
The most basic pro-environmental initiatives are waste
management and tree planting.
Unfortunately, these initiatives are being brushed off as mundane and
people even think they are “run-of-the-mill”.
These initiatives, however, are the most doable from the individual and
household levels. But why is waste
management seemingly a dismal failure in spite of the many local, national and
even international laws, protocols and conventions that are against waste
dumping? Please read the following
researched article…
“WHY PH IS WORLD’S 3RD BIGGEST DUMPER OF PLASTICS
IN THE OCEAN
Irresponsible garbage hauling companies and the presence of
open dump sites near rivers are two reasons why the Philippines is among the
world’s top ocean polluters, according to a new study.
MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines has among the highest
trash collection rates in Southeast Asia yet it’s the world’s 3rd
biggest source of plastic leaking into the ocean. A new report on plastic pollution by
international group Ocean Conservancy and McKinsey Center for Business and
Environment looks into this alarming discrepancy. The study, released to media on October 1,
looked at 5 of the world’s biggest contributors of plastic pollution in the
world’s oceans. China, Indonesia, the
Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam contribute over half of all plastics that
end up in the seas, according to the study.
What so these 5 countries have in common? They are all benefiting from economic growth,
reduced poverty, and improved quality of life.
But this new-found economic power has led to “exploding demand for
consumer products that has not yet been met with a commensurate
waste-management infrastructure,” reads the report. The Philippines was ranked the 3rd
top source of plastic leaking into oceans in a February 2015 study. The country generates 2.7 million metric tons
of plastic garbage each year, 20% or 521,000 ton of which ends up in the ocean. Yet the country reported one of the highest
garbage collection rates in the region – with a national average of 85% and
nearly 90% in some dense urban areas. So
why the discrepancy? The study found that
74% of the plastics leaking into the ocean from the Philippines come from garbage
that has already been collected by haulers and garbage trucks. This amounts to 386,000 tons of plastic
trash. Only 26% or 135,000 tons of
plastics in seas actually comes from garbage that is not collected. The study attributed the leakage of collected
garbage to two factors: illegal dumping by garbage-hauling companies, and open
dump sites located near waterways. Based
on interviews with local government officials and environmental groups, the
study found that waste leakage in the Philippines often happens while the
garbage is transported from the collection site (households, village material
recovery facilities) to the dump sites.
Some private garbage hauling companies unload their trucks on their way
to disposal sites in order to cut costs.
“Waste is usually dumped at roadside, at informal deposit sites, or
directly into waterways in locations where it is convenient to do so,” reads
the report. This saves haulers time and
money. The reduced garbage load can even
reduce fuel consumption. The second
major source of leaked garbage after collection is open dump sites which are
typically near waterways. The fact that
the Philippines is an archipelagic country and with an elaborate network of
rivers does not help matters, says the study.
The study specifically names as an example the open dump site of Dagupan
City in Pangasinan which is located right on the coastline. The decision by local governments to put dump
sites near waterways is often due to financial considerations. “Land adjacent to rivers tends to be cheaper
than in other parts of the country, and waste will intermittently be carries
away by heavy rains or currents, refreshing the capacity of the dump site to
receive more waste,” reads the report.
Open dump sites are illegal in the country under the Ecological Solid
Waste Management Act of 2000. But there
are still around 600 of them in the country.
Sanitary landfills, the only type of disposal site allowed by law,
number only around 70. Sanitary
landfills are a type of disposal site in which garbage is isolated from the
environment, usually by being buried in a large hole lined with thick plastic
or a layer of clay. It also often
involves a network of pipes to prevent liquids generated by the garbage from
leaking into the ground. But sanitary
landfills are costly to construct, Local governments in the Philippines often
lack either political will or the budget to construct such facilities. “Waste management is technical and very
expensive. We have no land, no money,
and a sanitary landfill is hard to run,” Dagupan City mayor Belen Fernandez to
Rappler. The National Solid Waste
Management Commission, the agency tasked with overseeing waste management in
the country, also lacks funding. “All we
can do is remind all mayors to close open dump sites. Then if they don’t comply, we tell the
Ombudsman,” said the agency’s executive director, Eli Ildefonso. So how can the Philippines plug these two
sources of plastic leaks? To fix the
first problem, illegal dumping by waste haulers, the Philippines should first
make the process of procuring garbage hauling services more transparent. In many cases, contracts are distributed at
the sole discretion of local government officials, leaving room for
corruption. A more transparent
procurement process “fosters competition between bidders and is based upon
clearly laid-out performance criteria.”
Such a system should penalize illegal practices by the haulers through
dumping fines or even cancellation of contracts. The haulers can be monitored carefully
through GPS tracking of garbage trucks to ensure the trucks complete their
designated route with their full load of waste.
To reduce leaks from open dump sites, the study still recommends full
closure or physical sealing of open dump sites near waterways and the
establishment of more sanitary landfills.
But given the cost and difficulty posed by these solutions, the study
also suggests simpler, faster and cheaper solutions for the short term. These include creating a perimeter around the
dump and its access road to help limit the size of the dump. The perimeter can be made of old tires,
concrete rubble, or even discarded appliances.
Using a bulldozer, excavator, or front-end loader, garbage can also be
compacted and periodically covered with soil to form layers that will not
easily escape into waterways. Such
equipment, along with one or more dump trucks, basic fencing, and a small guard
house or office can be procured for $300,000 to 500,000 (P14 million to 23
million) per dump site, depending on the size of the dump. Just addressing the two major sources of
plastic leaks could reduce the country’s total leakage by 26%.” --- Rappler.com
We are a democracy and governed by laws. A review of the local laws and ordinances against
garbage and waste dumping seems to indicate that the penalties are not severe
enough. Perhaps it’s time to criminalize
waste dumping on the pretext that offenses against Mother Nature and the
environment will also cause health problems and even death to human
beings. Throw-in a serious
implementation of existing laws and legislation (both local and national),
people will begin to become more judicious in their actions. When an offense entails a stiff fine and a
jail term, people will be more than willing to abide. Perhaps the Philippines will, by then, be
delisted from the scroll of the world’s biggest plastics dumpers.
Thoughts to
promote positive action…
(Please
visit, like and share Pro EARTH Crusaders on Facebook or follow me at http://antonantonio.blogspot.com/
and http://twitter.com/EarthCrusader/)
REFERENCE:
Rappler.com, (2015). “Why PH is World’s 3rd
Biggest Dumper of Plastic in the Ocean”.
Retrieved on October 17, 2015 from http://www.rappler.com/science-nature/environment/108276-philippines-plastic-pollution-ocean-conservancy-study?utm_content=buffer1ca21&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer
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