With garbage, don’t risk basics

Cebu City’s garbage problem is real. Offers of a solution are welcome and deserve attention. But not all proposals are good for the environment or assure a bottomline that is sound for the quality of life that Cebuanos deserve.

Trash and discards from households and industries are filthy, but come to think of it, this supports the economy. Garbage, has in fact, become the employer of last resort. One need not go to Payatas in Metro Manila. Ask any waste picker in the Inayawan Landfill Facility and hear stories of how one man’s refuse has become another man’s next meal for his his family.

Fast-paced urban living has created the demand for instant goods. Creating instant products, from soda and batteries to throw-away cellphones, require enormous amounts of energy and resources. They often end up in garbage dumps.

Bottles, cans, plastic, paper mixed with a whole lot of organic refuse end up in garbage dumps, offerring economic opportunities to the waste picker.

Today, the trash doesn’t just attract salvagers. It also draws those e looking for something cheap to burn. That’s what youl look for in a scheme of incineration for energy.

A proposed Inayawan waste-to-energy project pending in the Cebu City council has been promoted as environment friendly solution to the waste problem.

It also presents itself as a plus factor for climate change because it allegedly reduces the emission of greenhouse gases like carbon and methane from the garbage dump and produces clean renewable energy.

This looks good at the outset, but wait.

Scrutiny points out red flags.

Burning waste at high temperatures has been proven harmful as it releases toxic gases and substances like dioxins, furans and trace elements like mercury.

As if to offer some trade offs, proponents claim that aside from mitigating climate change, the scheme will produce electricity and contribute to the growing power demand of Metro Cebu.

Burning isn’t the only solution. As proven by poor waste pickers, something can be done with garbage. Bottles, cans and plastic can be recycled and reused. Bio-degradable matter can be turned into compost and organic fertilizer.

Why can’t these simple methods be done in all households and industries?

Why risk a P4-billion waste-to-energy project with no proven track record of safety or success when the basics of solid waste management have not yet been fully exploited?