Manila Bay LGUs Discuss Solid Waster in LCP Webinar

Technical experts, local chief executives, and LGU officers from Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Cavite, and NCR gathered at a webinar organized by the League of Cities of the Philippines last December 2020 to tackle interlocal partnerships for the management of solid waste, one of the six priority measures of the Manila Bay Sustainable Development Master Plan (MBSDMP).

The event entitled "No Time to Waste" highlighted the importance of establishing inter-LGU waste transfer stations to improve the solid waste management (SWM) in coastal and non-coastal parts of the bay.

According to Engr. Joma Lim, Manila Bay SWM expert, such facilities are crucial in the successful implementation of the master plan as it aims to prevent the bay’s long-standing problem on flooding and water pollution.

"It is very important to have a secondary sorting facility and the most ideal site will be the transfer stations before we transfer our residuals to our sanitary landfills," he said. "This project aims to design and construct facilities that will enhance logistics for holding trips serving local government units and improve recovery of materials from municipal solid waste through secondary sorting."

The Netherlands experience

The event invited Engr. Frans Föllings, solid waste expert from the Netherlands, to share how his country streamlined its network of sanitary landfills and increased their waste-to-energy plants through clustering of municipalities. He also gave his recommendations on how Philippine cities, municipalities, and provinces can replicate such practices as they start planning for the creation of transfer stations.

"Somebody has to start with the transition [in creating provincial transfer stations] and that's a very important issue," he said. "In the Netherlands, there were some governors who took the responsibility. They committed themselves to this transition and that is very brave because transitions like this take years."

Meanwhile, LCP consultant and Professor Vella Atienza, gave pointers on what local governments must consider when clustering for creating said facilities.

She cites the need for promoting collaboration among neighboring LGUs through policy and government assistance. According to her, such examples include venturing into partnership agreements and engaging the public through incentives and information campaigns to ensure acceptance of SWM projects by local communities.

Atienza also underscored the need to revisit the term limits of local chief executives as these play an important role in the longevity of inter-LGU partnerships and projects.

Deep-dive on local SWM issues

The online event featured two breakout sessions which identified the current issues of participating LGUs when it comes to interlocal cooperation for establishing SWM facilities.

In the breakout session on technical and capacity issues facilitated by Föllings, LGU officers from Bataan, Bulacan, and Nueva Ecija agreed that clustering of LGUs will greatly help reduce the cost of establishing sanitary landfills and WTE plants. The need to involve the informal sector and create projections on the volume of waste generated when setting up waste facilities were also discussed.

On the other hand, the demand for LGUs to work together and identify modalities for LGU clustering was echoed by many of the attendees from Cavite and Bulacan at the breakout session on political and institutional issues facilitated by Atienza.

Experiences on the ground

Select local chief executives from the Manila Bay Area were invited during the event to share their experiences in managing solid waste in their localities.

Vice-Mayor Angel Cruz, Jr. of Hagonoy, Bulacan—one of the earliest LGUs to spearhead interlocal actions for solid waste—showcased the municipality’s current efforts to improve the working conditions of waste collectors and introduce a cost-based approach for waste collection in villages and households.

Bacoor City Mayor Lani Mercado-Revilla, meanwhile, revealed that the city is in the process of reassessing their 10-year solid waste plans.

"One of our issues really is waste diversion since we are a growing city—we are the bedroom of people who work in Metro Manila," she said. "So far, that is our greatest challenge now. Our province doesn’t have its own landfill and we are still on the regular system of waste collection. We have ordinances in place, so we are ready for waste segregation, but we are still transferring our wastes to a nearby province."

Capacity building in 2021

The LCP webinar was organized with funding support from VNG International through its "Governance of Inclusive Green Growth in Cities (DEALS) Programme."

According LCP Vice-President for Luzon and Balanga City Mayor Francis Garcia, insights gathered from the participating LGUs will set the tone for local capacity building consultations lined up for next year. Said LGUs will be creating guidelines and common strategies to establish and expand SWM infrastructure.

For NEDA Assistant Secretary Roderick Planta, the webinar was an effective way to popularize the MBSDMP and improving LGU participation.

"Partnership really matters," he said. "There are a lot of things to do, but please let us know how we can help you. We are really invested, institutionally and personally. We would like your cities and your municipalities to grow better and to solve the manifold problems."