BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan said the local government is doing its best to maximize the operation of its two multi-million Environmental Recycling system (ERS) machines at the former Irisan open dumpsite to increase the volume of biodegrable waste converted to compost fertilizer and lessen the volume of garbage being hauled out of the city to the sanitary landfill in Capas, Tarlac.
The local chief executive revealed the local government has purchased the required squeezer to be installed within the facility and the inventor of the ERS machines committed to delivering two additional boilers to increase the capacity of the conversion capacity of the machines.
From its existing daily coversion capacity of 48 tons of biodegradable waste to compost fertilizer, he claimed the installation of the additional units of equipment increases its capacity to at least 96 tons.
“We want to sustain the city’s momentum in reducing the volume of biodegrable waste hauled out of the city and thus reduce hauling costs. We want to let our people know that city officials are doing something to eventually put an end to the hauling of the city’s waste outside the city and save the hauling cost for other development projects in the city,” Domogan stressed.
While it is true that the operation of the two ERS machines had not been regular in the past because of technical problems, he said the City General Services Office made sure that at least one of the machines operated alternately for the continuous production of compost fertilizer now being bought by a company.
City General Services officer Romeo D. Concio said the city is hauling out some 130 tons 150 tons of residual waste to the Capas sanitary landfill daily, thus, the improved capacity of the ERS machines in the coming months will definitely help in significantly reducing the volume of garbage being hauled out of the city.
For this year, the local government earmarked some P85 million purposely for the hauling of the city’s residual waste to the Capas sanitary landfill and the hauling is bidded out annually.
The operation of the two ERS machines was incorporated by the City Solid Waste Management Board as an integral part of the city’s planned integrated solid waste disposal facility to be established either in the 139-hectare city-owned property in Sto. Tomas School Area or in the Antamok open pit area of the Benguet Corporation in nearby Itogon town.
Based on the latest Waste Analysis and Characterization Study (WACS), the total volume of garbage produced in the city is 402 tons, excluding the garbage produced by SM City Baguio, Baguio Country Club, Camp John Hay and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), as these have their independent waste haulers. /By Dexter A. See#
