DENR delivers a major feat in solid waste management implementation with the closure of all dumpsites in the country in 2021.
DEPARTMENT of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Roy A. Cimatu is seeing the beginning of a new era of environmental consciousness among Filipinos with the closure of all dumpsites in the country this year.
The closures were conducted through the effective implementation of Republic Act (RA) 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.
"This accomplishment mirrors the successful implementation of our Solid Waste Management Program, one of DENR’s 10 priority programs for intensified environmental protection. It signifies that we are headed in the direction of behavior change," Cimatu said on the closure of 335 open dumpsites in 2021.
DENR said since 2017, the closure of dumpsites has been part of Cimatu's commitment to the country's solid waste management program.
It is also a testament to the political will of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and his administration since it is only now, 20 years after the enactment of RA 9003 in 2001, that the closure has been fully accomplished.
The DENR chief believes that the achievement will spur the Filipinos' behavioral change towards proper solid waste management.
Meanwhile, DENR Undersecretary for Solid Waste Management and Local Government Units Concerns Benny D. Antiporda, who serves as an alternate chair to the National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC), said that the Commission has also passed Resolution No. 1428 series of 2021 declaring Plastic Straw and Plastic Coffee Stirrer as Non-Environmentally Acceptable Products or NEAP.
“Matagal na pong isinaad sa batas ng RA 9003 ang tungkol sa NEAP. Mabuti na lang po at nailabas natin ang resolution kaugnay rito,” Antiporda said.
NSWMC also passed Resolution No. 1429 series of 2021 enjoining all National Government Agencies to Provide Yellow Bins in their Respective Premises for the Proper Storage of Household Healthcare Waste and To Coordinate with Their Respective Local Government Units for The Collection, Transport, Treatment, and Disposal of Such Wastes.
“This year, it becomes more challenging to implement the said law because sanitary landfills, materials recovery facilities, and transfer stations all became critical. Packaging materials such as plastic wrappers to ensure the safety and protection of some products, and healthcare wastes from medical facilities, have been piling up in these facilities,” he added.
With this, Antiporda lauded the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) “for their untiring efforts to pass these two resolutions.”(Santiago Celario)
Tags: #DENR, #solidwastemanagement, #battleagainstwaste, #Sec.Cimatu, #UsecAntiporda, #opendumpsites