QUEZON CITY — The EcoWaste Coalition called on the national and local governments to fully check the integrity of existing landfills nationwide, penalize violations, and order immediate remedial measures to prevent deadly disasters that are waiting to happen.
The network of public interest groups advocating for a zero-waste and toxics-free society aired the appeal following the garbage slide at the Davao City Sanitary Landfill that resulted in one fatality, two injured persons, and two others still unaccounted for.
The Interfacing Development Interventions for Sustainability (IDIS), a member of the EcoWaste Coalition, had earlier commented that “the tragedy reflects the challenges of increasing volume of waste generated and disposed of in our landfills everyday,” adding “this incident highlights the importance of a strong integrated waste management system that prioritizes waste reductions, segregation at source, recycling, composting, and responsible disposal to prevent similar incidents from happening again.”
“We urge the authorities to assess the compliance of all landfills to mandatory regulations on waste segregation and acceptance, daily soil cover, containment engineering, slope stabilization, leachate, water quality, and gas monitoring, emergency preparedness, occupational safety and health, and other requirements, ensuring that all violations are identified, penalized, and fixed,” said Ochie Tolentino, Zero Waste Campaigner, EcoWaste Coalition. “We cannot just wait for the next landfill collapse, fire, leachate overflow, and gas explosion to claim more lives and aggravate social injustice and environmental pollution.”
According to the group, the string of landfill disasters in Cebu City, Montalban (Rizal), Navotas City, and Davao City unmasked the inadequacy of current policies centered on managing trash rather than stopping it, and the need to move away from unsustainable, end-of-pipe solutions to the waste crisis.
“The volume and toxicity of the waste we generate continue to surge because our policies tend to favor disposal over prevention. While RA 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, mandates waste avoidance, segregation at source, and other best practices, national and local implementation is weak,” noted Aileen Lucero, National Coordinator, EcoWaste Coalition. “Furthermore, gaps in RA 11898, or the Extended Producer Responsibility Act, fail to curb overproduction of plastics, allowing a continuous reliance on single-use packaging.”
To reduce waste volume, halt landfill dependence, and avoid the waste-to-energy (WtE) incineration trap, the EcoWaste Coalition reiterated its call for the genuine enforcement of RA 9003 and the adoption of strong policies to eradicate waste at source, such as banning single-use plastics, ensuring efficient organics management, and keeping compostable and recyclable resources out of both landfills and incinerators, prioritize investments on people-centered solutions, and ensure safe, socially just and sustainable livelihoods for waste workers.
