“BASURA MO, BAWASAN MO!” GSO CALLS FOR WASTE REDUCTION

August 31, 2024 Headlines

BAGUIO CITY

The General Services Office stepped up efforts towards waste reduction in households in the city to effect a change in solid waste management under the slogan “Basura Mo, Bawasan Mo!” General Services Office Eugene Buyucan said there is an urgent need for families to heighten waste management consciousness to help the city address the increasing volume of wastes and reduce the cost entailed by managing these.

During the Inception Workshop for the European Union-Philippines Partnership for Green Economy: Green LGUs Project held recently, Buyucan disclosed that the city spends P225 million a year to manage its wastes including the
hauling out of its residual wastes to sanitary landfill stations outside of the city. “We aim to reduce if not eliminate this expense which could have gone to more beneficial programs and projects so we are focusing on our goal to reduce wastes right from our homes even as we continue to promote waste segregation, reuse and recycling methods,’’ he said.

Buyucan said the city’s daily waste generation totals 592 tons almost equally broken down to biodegradable (35.90 percent), recyclable (30.82 percent) and residual (32.55 percent) based on the Waste Analysis and Characterization Study (WACS) in 2022. With the projected annual increase of .56 tons per day, this year’s expected total daily waste
output would be 593.28 tons. The GSO head offered simple tips on how to reduce wastes at home: *Lessen if not totally avoid purchase of goods with too much packaging.

The GSO had noted an increase in plastic wastes in the city since the pandemic when online selling and delivery became popular *Learn to minimize food waste by preparing just enough food; *Buy items in bulk to avoid
packaging wastes especially basic items like rice, kitchen condiments and hygiene needs like shampoo. Sachets create more wastes; and *Segregate your wastes into recyclables, biodegradable which you can convert to compost or feed for animals and residual which should be collected by the city.

The GSO also urged the practice of the 10R principle under the circular economy concept of the Green LGUs Project of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Dept. of Interior and Local Government (DILG)
which aims to minimize waste and promote sustainable use of natural resources through smarter product design, longer use, recycling and more as well as regenerate nature (with the end in view of) helping tackle the problem on pollution, climate change and biodiversity loss.

These are: Refuse (make product redundant by abandoning its function or by offering the same function with a different product), Rethink (make product use more extensive like sharing products or putting multi-functional
products on market), Reduce (increase efficiency product manufacture or use by consuming fewer natural
resources), Reuse (reuse of discarded product in good condition by another consumer), Repair ((repair and maintenance of defective product so it can be used with its original function), Refurbish (restore and old product and bring it up to date),

Remanufacture (use parts of a discarded product into a new product with the same function or rebuild a product to
specifications of the original manufactured product using a combination of reused, repaired and new parts), Repurpose (use discarded products or its part in a new product with different function or use things again in an entirely new way), Recycle (process materials to obtain the same or lower quality), and Recover (further material or
energy recovery).

Aileen P. Refuerzo/Baguio-PIO