MANILA, Philippines—The Quezon City Council has voiced opposition to the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority’s plan to use incinerators to solve the garbage problem.
The 26-member council body has approved a resolution against the MMDA’s plan, saying it poses environmental hazards because of the toxic gases from the incinerators.
But the city council said it was not against the use of smokeless incinerators to dispose of Metro Manila’s garbage.
Resolution No. SP-5462 S-2012 was approved on second reading on February 27 and confirmed on March 5 by the city council.
Introduced by Councilors Dorothy Delarmente and Gian Carlo Sotto, the resolution noted that trash volume in Quezon City was between 8,400 and 8,600 tons daily.
The MMDA earlier proposed to use incinerators in dealing with the huge amount of garbage generated by Metro Manila households.
While the solution first appears to be encouraging, the city council said the repercussions would be “undesirable and devastating to the environment.”
This is due to the levels of carbon dioxide and other toxic gases that will be emitted into the atmosphere once the incinerators are used, it explained.
“Various scientific studies have shown that incinerators, except smokeless incinerators, may cause grave problems in surrounding communities, not to consider that these devices are notoriously expensive,” the resolution said.
It added that the city government already adopted waste segregation, recycling, reusing and composting into a law, which only needs strict enforcement.