ECOLOGICAL SWM VOLUNTEERS

On a clear day, 6 to 7 waste pickers are working at the existing controlled sump site of the municipality. They are members of the Ecological Waste Management Volunteers group. When asked, they presented their IDs which are issued by the Municipal Mayor of Buenavista. One regulation provides that only those who have IDs are allowed to work inside the site. Moreover, no children are allowed inside the premises of the premises of the disposal facility.

One of the waste pickers, Delio Gabasay said that the municipality provided masks, shoes, and gloves to the workers. They each also received anti-tetanus shots. The municipal dump truck brings the daily collection of waste in the morning. Delio sifts through the garbage and retrieves both bio-degradable and non bio-degradable wastes. The organic wastes, which are usually left-overs from the 2 public markets are brought home, cleaned, sliced, and boiled with hot water to feed to domestic animals.

The other volunteers are sorting the non-biodegradable wastes that are collected from the heap. Glass bottles, mineral water containers, plastic, cartoon boxes, aluminum cans, and old newspapers and magazines are placed separately in sacks piled at one corner of the disposal facility. The sorting area is a small covered hut where workers are sheltered from rain and sun. The organization earns some P500.00 a week from the sale of non-biodegradable wastes recovered at the disposal site.

Jonathan Eledia, coordinator of the Municipal Solid Waste Management Office, explains the factors affecting the volume of recyclable materials recovered at the dump site: a) the practice of segregation at source piloted in the 2 municipal markets; b) increased awareness of the residents on the types of recyclable wastes; c) the low total volume of wastes being collected from the 7 urban barangays of Buenavista and; d) activities of  the mobile recyclable waste collectors operating for the so-called local junk traders. Segregators of waste also bring recyclable items to the junk shops. These are in turn brought to dealers in Ilo-ilo City for transport to recycling plants and manufacturers in the major urban centers in the country.