The Quezon City government is preparing for the eventual closure of the Payatas landfill by the end of the year.
City Administrator Aldrin Cuña, said the landfill is already nearing its limit.
“We are preparing for its closure this year but MMDA [Metro Manila Development Authority] has to decide where we will dump our waste as we still have no designated area,” Cuña said.
Earlier this year, then-Environment secretary Gina Lopez expressed her intent to close the dump because of its proximity to the La Mesa watershed, one of the main water sources of Metro Manila.
Payatas is an engineered sanitary landfill, exclusively for the waste of Quezon City. It collects 2,800 tons of garbage a day.
The Quezon City Environmental Protection and Waste Management Department has requested the MMDA to reopen Payatas after ordering its temporary closure last July 27.
The EPWMD ordered the temporary closure owing to continuous rains. The MMDA also instructed the department to suspend the operations at Payatas.
According to Frederika Rentoy, EPWMD head, the recent heavy rains made the access roads to the landfill muddy and slippery, making it difficult for garbage trucks to safely maneuver.
During the dump’s closure, the city’s collected garbage was diverted to two sanitary landfills; District 1, 3, and 4’s wastes to Vitas, Tondo, and District 2, 5, and 6’s to Rodriguez, Rizal.
Rentoy, however, said it took five to eight hours for garbage trucks to return from Vitas, and the landfill in Rodriguez had requirements that the QC haulers could not comply with immediately, with the trucks needing tickets to pass into the dump.
On the other hand, EPWMD and MMDA have inspected the Payatas dump and saw it is already safe and stable.
The QC department is just waiting for the MMDA’s go-signal to resume dumping garbage at Payatas. If approved, the dumpsite will have a gradual reopening, where only barangay-contracted trucks and independent haulers can dispose their garbage in.