Some of the serious environmental risks caused by waste
overflow landfills are ground and surface water contamination, flooding,
greenhouse gas production, air pollution, exposure to toxins and spread of
disease. Many disposal sites across the country contain infectious material,
threatening sanitation workers and waste pickers and, eventually the general
public.
Tests of liquid runoff or leachate from Rodriguez and
Payatas dump sites were found to contain high levels of contaminants. Most of
the leachate seeps untreated into groundwatersources of drinking water and
flows to the Marikina and Pasig River systems and Manila Bay. Landfills and
dump sites, despite government’s efforts to situate them in areas far from
population centers, still pose a threat to the health and the environment.
A lot of wastes, about one-third of solid waste generated
in the cities, are often dumped indiscriminately and often end up clogging the
drains, causing flooding and increase in the populations of rodents and other
pests. The urban poor suffer most from life-threatening conditions resulting
from uncollected garbage.
In this age of digitalization and technology, one of the
innovative solutions for solid waste management is decentralization using
pyrolysis technology. Pyrolysis is coined from the Greek terms pyro or fire and
lysis or separating. It is the industrial process of breaking down large
molecules of waste such as agricultural residues, scraps, tires, and
non-recyclable materials into smaller molecules of gas, oil and carbon black.
One of the by-product of pyrolysis technology is ash which can be mixed with
aggregates for construction purposes.
Most importantly, people should realize that they play a
huge role in solving the massive garbage problem in the Philippines. It should
be the country’s goal to create an environment free of garbage, minimizing of
waste disposal to landfill, educating the community and make them aware of
their roles and responsibilities, and to involve the business community in
solid waste management.
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