Garbage in city up by 30% during Yuletide break

BAGUIO CITY – The City General Services Office (GSO) disclosed the volume of garbage generated during the Yuletide break drastically increased by over 30 percent compared to the garbage generated during regular days in the city.

            General Services Officer Eugene Buyucan reported from the normal 170 tons of residual waste collected in the city during normal days, the same increased to over 200 tons daily from December 21 up to December 30, 2019 which compelled personnel of the city government in charge of garbage collection and volunteers to work double time to ensure the collection of the residual waste from the established collection points in the different barangays.

            He said the city government also requested the operator of the sanitary landfill in Urdaneta City, Pangasinan to make sure the facility will be open during the holidays to accommodate the huge volume of residual waste coming from the city so that garbage will not be stockpiled in the city’s waste transfer station at the Baguio Dairy Farm.

            “We had to exert extra effort to ensure the generated residual waste in the different barangays will be collected on time despite the significant increase in the volume of the garbage produced by the residents and tourists alike due to the Yuletide celebrations,” Buyucan stressed.

            He admitted there were some untoward delays in the collection of the generated residual waste in the established pick up points in the different barangays primarily because of the traffic that delayed the turn around of the garbage trucks from the waste transfer station to the pickup points.

            According to him, the collection of garbage in the different barangays started to normalize last December 31, 2019 because the number of visitors that flocked to the city during the Yuletide break started to decrease as most of them went back to their places of origin.

            The city general services officer appealed to residents for their utmost understanding in cases when there are delays in the collection of garbage in the established pickup points due to unavoidable circumstances but assured the people the garbage brought to pickup points during the scheduled collection day will be done.

            Buyucan revealed the residual waste in the different barangays drastically increased on December 24 and 25, 2019 with the garbage collection trucks having to go back at least four times to ensure all the wastes will be collected to prevent the occurrence of a garbage crisis.

            He underscored the hauling of the city’s residual waste is still the most feasible intervention against a serious garbage problem in the city while the city government is working out the realization of its planned waste-to-energy plant near the existing transfer station.

            He stated that in the case of the biodegradable waste, the same is being fed into the existing Environmental Recycling system (ERS) machines while the recyclable waste is being collected by the volunteers who go with the city’s garbage trucks in the collection of garbage in the established collection points. --Dexter A. See