The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said the National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC) has approved the solid waste management plans (SWMPs) of 22 local government units (LGUs) last month to bring the total number of approved plans to 1,082 or 63 percent of its target nationwide.
Ot the 22 approved plans, four are in Misamis Oriental; three in Camarines Sur; two each in Misamis Occidental, Ilocos Norte, Benguet, and Lanao del Norte; and one each in Cagayan, Albay, Sorsogon, Leyte, Northern Samar, and Zamboanga del Sur.
“Enabling our local executives to strengthen their capacities for effective solid waste management is a priority of the DENR and the NSWMC, especially LGUs facing difficulties with their solid waste management programs,” said Environmental Secretary Roy Cimatu.
Cimatu said in a statement based on data from the Environmental Management Bureau, 558 SWMPs are currently under evaluation, 332 of which are almost finished pending the submission of additional data mostly involving budgetary requirements and specifics on proper final disposal facilities.
The DENR also said that it is looking at the possibility of clustering LGUs which cannot put up their own disposal facilities to share a single sanitary landfill.
The agency also reiterated its plans to bring in the private sector through public-private partnerships for the establishment of additional 300 sanitary landfills nationwide within the next two years.
At present, there are only 237 sanitary landfills in operation across the country servicing over 449 LGUs, with 11 more under construction.
Last month, the DENR completed the closure of all 335 open dumpsites in the country in order to abide the strict enforcement of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 that prohibits the operations of open dumpsites where solid waste is deposited without planning and consideration for environmental and health standards. – Jed Macapagal
