Chairman Benjamin Abalos Jr. of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority on Thursday presented the agency's first granulator and brick-making facility installed to lessen solid waste being dumped and found in waterways.
The Filipino patent facilities situated at the Vitas Pumping Station in Tondo, Manila, was approved by the Department of Science and Technology.
Abalos says the facilities will not only help reduce solid waste but will also prolong the service life of landfills.
Bio-waste and plastics collected in pumping stations will be converted into by-products such as bricks, eco-hollow blocks, eco-concrete barriers and bio-waste compost materials.
“It is my ardent hope that through our initiatives under the Metro Manila Flood Management Project, we will be able to reduce the risks to vulnerable communities due to flooding and excessive waste generation,” said Abalos during the inauguration.
Abalos also said the installation of solid waste granulator and brick-making facility would avert damage to pumping stations brought by garbage being dumped on the waterways.
Abalos says the MMDA will continue its collaboration with all stakeholders to ensure that all the efforts geared towards reduction and elimination of waste will be sustained.
“Let me assure you that we will continuously collaborate with foreign and local experts, other government agencies, private sector and non-government organizations towards our move from singular success stories to beneficial efforts at a larger scale in disaster prevention and mitigation," the MMDA chief said.
"Let us maximize all the available platforms and aim for sustainable and synergized solutions to prevent disastrous effects of flooding caused by garbage.”
Waste collected will be disinfected first before initial sorting. Sorted waste will then be loaded to an inclined surveyor and will undergo final sorting and segregation. Biodegradable and plastic waste will be granulated on the bio-waste granulator equipment while glass materials will be crushed through a bottle crushing machine.
Biodegradable waste will either be composted or turned into charcoal briquettes while plastic and glass materials will be processed either into bricks, hollow blocks or concrete barriers.