A low-cost and more environment-friendly technology for solid waste management is now being pushed by the Department of Science & Technology for local government units.
The Bioreactor Technolody developed by the Industrial Technology Development Institute, a research and development branch under DOST, promises to generate savings of as much as P700,000 for LGUs compared to sanitary landfill costs.
“Our composting technology will save the LGUs lots of money because it consumes lesser electrical power, requires very low solid inoculant requirements and can be operated by fewer personnel,” explained Engr. Romeo Cabacang, chief of ITDI’s environment and biotechnology division, during a seminar on ecological solid waste management here.
Cabacang said the bioreactor facility has a faster composting process, converting biodegradable solid wastes such as spoiled or wilted vegetable and fruit peels into quality organic fertilizer. “You can use this compost to grow vegetable crops and other high-valued products,” he told the seminar’s participants composed chiefly of representatives from LGUs and members of the Dumaguete City Solid Waste Management Board.
The technology will contribute much to addressing the LGU’s problems on solid waste, which Cabacang said accounts for 52 percent of the solid wastes produced by the localities.
“Waste segregation is becoming a challenge for us. Until now, we have yet to succeed with segregation efforts so many years after the solid waste management law has been enacted,” he stressed.
RA 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act was signed into law in 2000 but records from the National Solid Waste Management Commission show that compliance of the law’s provisions among LGUs in the provinces remains low.
Engr. Gilbert Arbon, DOST provincial science & technology officer, said he has offered the composting technology to Dumaguete City Mayor Manuel Sagarbarria. “The Mayor was positive to the this idea. The technology and the composting equipment will probably be put up at the Candau-ay Dumpsite area,” he disclosed. (RMN/PIA Negros Oriental)