Dagupan’s way out of trash woes: ‘Libreta’

Dagupan City—This city has found a way to solve the garbage problem of the island village of Calmay by giving households a libreta de basura (garbage booklet) each to record the amount of their daily trash volume.

Teddy Villamil Jr., acting head of the city waste management division, said the idea is anchored on findings that each person generates 0.3 kg of solid wastes every day, translating into 1.5 kg of trash a day for a family of five.

Villamil said inspectors will be present when garbage is collected to assess the amount of wastes generated by each household.

“The wastes must approximate the amount that is usually generated, depending on the number of people in each house. If not, then they will be questioned where they are throwing their wastes,” Villamil said.

The inspector will also check if wastes are segregated, he said.

Villamil said Calmay was selected as a pilot area for the project because it has the worst garbage problem among 31 villages in Dagupan, a major commercial center of Pangasinan.

“For the past 40 years, wastes are dumped into the river, fishponds and surroundings but everyone denies that the wastes are theirs,” he said.

With the libreta de basura, the city can identify the sources of garbage.

The village has 1,046 households, but only 119 pay the monthly garbage collection fee of P30. The libreta de basura project also seeks to ensure proper collection of the fees.

If the project succeeds in Calmay, Villamil said it would be replicated in other villages.

Poorer communities generate more residual wastes while the richer communities generate more recyclable wastes, he said.

City records showed that Dagupan has a daily waste collection of 45 to 50 tons since July last year, down from 93 tons in previous years.

This has been attributed to the implementation of the “no segregation, no collection” policy, recycling and reusing, and digging of compost pits, especially in villages, Villamil said.

“We have 80-percent compliance with the no segregation, no collection policy,” he said.

Garbage is collected daily in four downtown villages and market areas.

“We do not collect unless the wastes are segregated. But still, there are villages where [garbage collectors] continue to pick up unsegregated wastes, leaving scavengers to sort them out,” he said.

Waste disposal has become a headache for Dagupan officials because the city has no available land suitable for a dump.

The city continues to unload its wastes, including those from the island villages, in a dump in Barangay Bonuan. Yolanda Sotelo, Inquirer Northern Luzon