DESPITE a Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ pronouncement to close down the Payatas sanitary landfill in the first quarter of 2017, the Quezon City government said on Thursday there was no imminent threat of such.
Andrea Andres, assistant head of the city government’s Environmental Protection and Waste Management Department, said Environment Secretary Gina Lopez sent Undersecretary for Field Operations Undersecretary Philip Camara and DENR-National Capital Region director Lourdes Wagan on March 28 to discuss issues on sustainable integrated area development within the community of the Payatas dump and on other “considerations.”
“There are considerations for the waste pickers; livelihood program; technology, such as composting; system, policies and projects,” she told the Manila Standard.
Despite a dialogue with several DENR officials, the city government is still preparing for the worst.
“No notice yet from DENR. Anyway, it [landfill] is inevitable to close since it is almost filled to capacity in two years. We just have to implement a sound closure plan and prepare for (a) new collection system to ensure that our fleet is appropriate to a site to be designated by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority,” city administrator Aldrin Cuña told the Manila Standard in a text message.
“Additional budget and plans for displaced waste pickers are also being prepared and studied.”
Citing the report of the landfill operator—the IPM Environmental Services Inc.—Andres said the Payatas dump could still be used for two or three more years.
The city is generating at least 1,762 metric tons of garbage a day.
Based on a 2017 projected population, Andres said, the city could generate 2,970 metric tons of trash a day.
Quezon City has 2.94 million constituents.
“Each person is expected to generate .88 kilo of wastes per day. A waste analysis is important in the determination of truck requirements,” she said.
There are 400 to 500 daily truck trips of mixed equipment —10-wheeler trucks, 16-cubic meter dump trucks and elf trucks, she added.
Last January, Lopez announced the Payatas sanitary landfill’s closure by the first quarter of 2017 over the possible impact of the leachate near the watershed of La Mesa Dam, the source of table water.
She earlier told environment reporters that Mayor Herbert Bautista must look for an alternative place.
According to Andres, an original proponent status was granted to the consortium of the Metro Pacific Investments Corp., Covanta Energy and Macquarie Group by the city government for the proposed construction of a P15-billion waste-to-energy facility in Payatas.
“We are on the negotiation stage. Their proposal would still go through the study of the city’s technical working group. After completion of the proposal, we will look into their financial, technical and legal documents,” she said.
