A garbage crisis looms in Luzon with medical wastes from hundreds of hospitals left untreated once the government decided to shut down the lone engineered sanitary landfill in Capas, Tarlac.
This was disclosed by a group of hospital and toxic waste treaters as they expressed fear for patients and workers of hospitals including small clinics who might be exposed to health hazards.
Danny Abadilla, president of Clark Sanitation Services, speaking to members of the Capampangan in Media (CAMI) Friday morning, said the planned closure of the landfill site in October would render thousands of hospitals “stuck and helpless” with un-collected hospital waste mounting each day.
Abadilla said the Kalangitan Sanitary Landfill is the “only sanitary landfill accredited by DENR to accept medical wastes.”
The engineered sanitary landfill, operated by the Metro Clark Waste Management Corp. (MCWMC) under a 25-year contract with the state-run Clark Development Corp. (CDC), is expected to stop operations by Oct. 5 with no clear alternative site to replace it.
“The looming garbage crisis in Central and Northern Luzon regions will not only affect households and industries but will certainly pose major health problems as soon as the government’s plan to close down the engineered sanitary landfill in Capas is implemented,” he said.
“It’s [Kalangitan landfill] immediate closure is a helpless situation. We cannot collect and process medical and hospital wastes if there are no available and fully compliant sanitary landfill where we could dispose treated wastes”, Abadilla said.
“Most, if not all toxic wastes treatment firms will have no recourse but to stop the collection and processing of highly toxic medical wastes” the group declared during the press forum.
Abadilla said most of these hospital wastes that are coming from Metro Manila, Cavite, Laguna and as far as Palawan are treated in their recovery facility before being taken to the Kalangitan Sanitary Landfill which is the only waste facility accredited by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
Abadilla said that if the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) and Clark Development Corp. (CDC) would close the waste facility by October, the stoppage of collecting and treatment of hospital wastes is expected to affect the health of patients and hospital workers in the frontline, and the community.
He said patients, hospital personnel and communities would be affected.
Abadilla said medical wastes consisting of hypodermic needles, body fluids, body parts, pharmaceuticals, radioactive materials and health care establishments, health-related laboratories, and health research facilities generate cytotoxic drugs.
Christopher Tang, director for business development of SafeWaste Inc. said the treatment facility processes some 30 tons of medical wastes per week from some 120 hospitals in Region 2 and CAR.
SafeWaste general nanager Al Kane said MCWMC is a “national treasure” and should be kept running.
After treatment, medical wastes are taken to the Kalangitan Sanitary Landfill for final disposal.
The MCWMC said about one million tons of wastes are being brought to the waste facility for processing each year.
The MCWMC serves 150 local government units (LGUs) and more than a thousand industrial clients that represent roughly 15 million people in Central Luzon, Pangasinan and the Cordilleras including Baguio City.
MCWMC executive vice president Vicky Gaetos said they would also lodge “legal action” against the BCDA, who continues to ignore their pleas, and CDC, the original contracting party, if the waste facility is shut down.
Capas Mayor Roseller Rodriguez earlier said they were mulling on filing a case against BCDA and CDC if no alternative facility was identified.
