The Department of Environment and Natural Resources has shut down a sanitary landfill in Calamba City, Laguna for failure of its operator to comply with the terms and conditions of its environmental compliance certificate.
The agency’s Environmental Management Bureau recently served a cease-and-desist order on a 6.6-hectare sanitary landfill facility operated by S.B. Hain Enterprises and General Services Inc. in Barangay Kay-Anlog.
Undersecretary for Solid Waste Management and Local Government Units Concerns Benny Antiporda said the CDO was issued against the landfill due to “numerous violations of the terms and conditions of its ECC granted by the EMB.”
“We cannot allow the landfill and its operator to continuously harm the environment. The Calamba SLF will remain closed until violations are corrected,” he said.
The order signed by acting EMB director William Cuñado was based on the report submitted by a team of EMB inspectors that found the landfill to have violated nine out of 26 conditions in its ECC following an inspection of the facility last July 13.
The Calamba facility is operating as a Category 4 SLF, the highest category sanitary landfill and biggest in terms of capacity, allowing it to accommodate residual waste of less than or equal to 250 metric tons
The Calamba facility started as a category 1 sanitary landfill facility with the issuance of its ECC on July 30, 2018, covering an area of 1.2 hectares at the same site but with a lower daily maximum waste input of 15 metric tons.
It was later upgraded to category 4 with more stringent conditions in its new ECC issued on Nov. 18, 2019.