An initial run of the city’s planned new waste segregation scheme, where the separation of the different types of garbage will be fully mandatory, is set to run in four barangays this coming week.
The pilot areas are Irisan, the biggest barangay in Baguio, Bakakeng Central, Guisad Surong, and Gibraltar, where major tourist destinations are located.
Under the current scheme intended to reduce the volume of trash as the city grapples with growing waste output and disposal costs, garbage collection by the city’s waste management office will only include residual waste, which is not recyclable and non-biodegradable.
This scheme would result in less net garbage needing hauling out to the landfills outside of the city in the face of rising disposal costs. The waste landfill that the city currently hauls its garbage to in Capas, Tarlac costs Baguio up to P200 million annually is set to close this coming October, with alternative options being farther away and, therefore, more expensive to deliver to.
If Baguio’s initial efforts to accept only residual waste are successful in the four pilot barangays, Baguio General Services Office head Eugene Buyucan says that the program can then be implemented in all of the city’s 128 barangays to drastically cut down total garbage output and disposal costs.
Since the city will no longer be accepting other forms of waste from these barangays, locals are directed to separate their recyclable wastes and transfer them to their local materials recovery facilities (MRFs). Each of the selected pilot villages have an established MRF, and the city is looking to establish a larger-scale MRF along Marcos Highway.
As for biodegradables, the city has yet to come up with a definitive solution for degradable wastes but is urging local village officials to establish barangay-level communal compost pits for the biodegradable output of their communities.
