THE MOUNTAINEER

Edison L. Baddal
Breakthrough in waste management (2)

Baguio resolved its garbage crisis late but it is worthy to consider its effort in this area. Methinks, however, that this should have been resolved once and for all in 2006 as Republic Act 9003 prohibited the use of controlled dumpsites by 2005.

Based on the timeline provided by the law, the Irisan dumpsite should have been closed by 2005 and thenceforwards the garbage crisis could have been averted. The garbage crisis easily came about considering the 270 to 300 tons that Baguio households churn out daily.

Pending the operation of its sanitary landfill, the city could consider using a newly-invented waste separator which automatically segregates biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste materials.

According to its inventor, Engineer Dominador Rosales Jr., the waste separator would practically eliminate the need for dumpsite as there will be no need for manual sorting of wastes which at the moment is the one being done at the MRF or at the household level.

As elaborated by the inventor, the system works in this manner, mixed wastes (biodegradable and non- biodegradable wastes) are loaded into the separator which is housed in a large 20-foot container van.

The entry port where mixed wastes pass are equipped with trap doors to prevent bad odor from coming out. Once loaded into the separator, the biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste are mechanically separated and carried to their respective exit ports. The non-biodegradable wastes are then sprayed with bioenzymes to arrest bad odors and then directed to the carousel segregation system (CSS) while the biodegradable waste go to the equipment’s rapid composting system (RCS) chamber.

These recyclables would then be kept in specific warehouses until it is large enough for disposal to factories or junk traders. For recyclable tin cans, these are compacted to economize space while residual plastics which are not sold as raw materials for one reason or another usually melted and converted to decors, chairs and tables.

For the bio- wastes recovered from the rapid composting system (RCS), these are sprayed with bio-enzymes, carbon activator, microbes and cocopeat to hasten composting. These substances then causes the removal of the leachate, materials which are sometimes toxic and pollutes water as it seeps through solid wastes. The removal of the leachates then convert the bio-wastes into raw organic fertilizers.

These are then channeled down to the zeolite mixer in which the raw organic fertilizers are mixed with zeolite and then sent to the composting bin to be composed within a 24- hour period. Thenceforwards, these raw organic fertilizers will now be packed in polytwine bags for use by farmers in the field after a lapse of one week.

This breakthrough in solid waste management would surely be a boon to the LGU’s who are hard pressed to toe the line as per requirements of RA 9003. The inventor clarified that the separator will do away with the manual sorting and collecting of recyclable materials in the dumpsites even as dumpsites are no longer allows by the law.

Also the Termophilic Aerobic Oxidation produced by the reaction of the bio-enzymes with the biowastes, putrid odor is scuttled in the process of producing raw fertilizers even the farmers to procure cheap fertilizers. Consequently, it will spare the environment of pollution and thus improve the ambient air quality of the territories where the raw organic fertilizers are produced.