AWARENESS ON THE POLICIES ON SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT AMONG SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS OF SOUTHERN CHRISTIAN COLLEGE, MIDSAYAP, COTABATO.

 By:Yeltsin Rome Antiporda

REVIEW OR RELATED LITERATURE

The deeper contains literature related to solid waste management. Topics included are Description and Solid Waste, Solid Waste Management Methods, and Studies Related to Solid Waste Management. SCC’s Prohibited Acts, Ecological Solid Waste Management Act 9003 and the conceptual framework.

Description and Concept of Solid Waste Management

Solid waste management is defined as the direct generation, collection, storage, transport, source separation, processing, treatment, recovery and disposal of solid waste. It is a polite term for garbage management. It is the response to the world’s stinking and escalating problem on the garbage. Mounting waste problem has been the core foundation of hazardous illness and land depletion, not to mention is negative upshot to the environment. The system of handling trash, be it municipal waste collection, recycling programs, open dumping, incineration and gasification fall on the same category. Despite the years of attempting to resolve the mounting waste problem, the problem still persist (Enriquez, 2011)

As reported by Guzman et al., (2010), solid waste management is one of the most critical environmental problems today. In metro Manila alone, approximately 0.6 kilogram per person of garbage is produced with a total amount of about 6000 to 7000 tons per day. Despite the fact that not all of these collection system people seem to be unconcerned with the amount of solid and semisolid waste they produce.

Proper collection is a solution to the country’s waste problem. Unfortunately, disposal would not be the most and sole answer to this concern (Guzman et al., 2010). Until recently, the disposal of municipal solid waste does not attract much public attention. From prehistory through the present day, the favored means of disposal was simply to dump solid waste outside the city and village limits (Enger & Smith, 2006).

Source reduction is considered to be the solution to solid waste problem. This means that first and foremost, people should consider how much waste is generated and in what ways can they reduced it. Secondly, they should consider how much of the wastes can be diverted from final disposal into other

forms. Related to this, several issues need to be resolved by the government agencies concerned with the solid waste management program in the Philippines (Guzman et al., 2010).

Man produces waste in nearly everything he does. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the United States produces 11 billion tons of solid waste each year. Nearly half of those amounts consist of agriculture wastes such as crop residue and animal manure which are generally recycled into the soil on the farms where they are produced. They represent valuable resources as ground cover to reduce erosion and fertilizer to nourish new crops. However, they also constitute the single largest source of air and water pollution in the country (Cunningham & Saigo, 2001).

Some Solid Waste Management Methods

From prehistory through the present day, the favored means of solid waste disposal is simply to dump solid waste outside the city or village limits. Frequently, these dumps are in wetlands, river or lakes. To minimize the volume of the wastes, the dump is often burned. These methods are being used in remote or sparsely populated areas in the world (Enger & Smith, 2006)

According to the Aeckerman (1997), waste management is an integrated part of the sustainable development. As population continues to grow and economy expands, there is a need to ensure the waste generated is properly manage on order to preserve the existing environment for future generations. Waste management has also been widely recognized especially in the 1980’s when there was a fear of landfill crisis. Since then, major development happened in municipal waste management.

    Landfill. Landfill is typically a depression in an impermeable clay layer that is lined with an impermeable membrane. Each day’s deposit of fresh garbage is covered with a layer of soil. Selection of modern landfill sites must be based on an understanding of ground-water geology, soil type, and sensitivity in local citizen’ concerns. Once the site is selected, extensive construction activities are necessary to prepare it for use. In some cases, methane produced by rotting garbage is collected and used to generate electricity. In 2001, about 57 percent of United States and about 80 percent of Canadian municipal solid wastes go into landfills, but this method is failing to handle the large volume of wastes (Cunningham & Saigo, 2001).

     Incineration. Incineration of refuse was quote common in North America and Western Europe prior to 1940. However, many incinerators were claimed because of aesthetic concerns, such as foul odors, noxious gases, and gritty smoke, rather than for reasons of public health. Most incineration facilities burn unprocessed municipal solid waste, which is not as efficient as some other technologies. About one-fourth of the incinerators use refuse-derived fuel-collected refuse that has been processed into the pellets prior to combustion (Cunningham& Saigo, 2003).

Incineration could be a process of burning wastes to generate electricity. This process is considered harmful to the environment as it adds a lot of emission to the atmosphere making already fast speed scale of global warming to escalate even further (Guzman et al., 2010)

  Source Reduction. According to Cunningham and Saigo (2003), the most fundamental way to reduce wastes is to prevent it from becoming waste in the first place. Source reduction means using less materials when making a product or converting from heavy packaging materials to lightweight ones. Some packaging materials are converted to lightweight aluminum and plastic and reducing the thickness of packaging, thus reducing the amount of packaging wastes. In 2003, plastic milk jugs weigh about half of what they weighted when they were first introduced. On an individual level, one can reduce amount of wastes generated. Every small personal commitment accumulates result of a significant reduction of municipal solid wastes.

     Recycling. Solid wastes may be recycled into useful products. Nowadays, as reported by Guzman et al., (2010), recyclable materials recovered from municipal refuse. Many municipalities require that those who generate solid wastes must separate   and keep bottles, cans, newspaper, cardboards and other recyclables items. Special trucks pick up these wastes and transfer to the recycling facilities.

    The United States recycle about 23% of its municipal solid wastes while Canada recycles about 10% of its waste. The goal for Ontario, Canada is to reduce amount of garbage to the landfill sites by 50% in 2000. Recycling along with source reduction, is a major part of the Ontario plan. Recycling along with source reduction, is a major part of the Ontario plan. Recycling initiative has grown rapidly in North America during the past several years (Cunningham & Saigo, 2005).

     In the Philippines, recycling is well established. It is slowly taking-off in the more parts of Asia. Two of which are in the remote village of Looc on Panglau Island in the Philippines. Locals now collect plastics for recycling to supplement their income. Also, schemes are under way to recycle plastic bottles and cans. The collected material is send to Cebu City by barge. There, the bottles can are processed. It is important to note that the motivators for this recycling initiate are mostly financial rather than environmental. These rural communities are still living in a severe poverty, with the proceeds of sale used to buy basic foods staples (Alan, 2011). There are two types of recycling: One is direct in the sense of materials are reused directly like bottles and refillable beverage containers. The indirect way is when the waste materials will undergo processing like aluminum cans. With recycling, new materials are formed out of sates (Guzman & Reyes, 2003 as cited in Anito, 2011).

      Composting. Biodegradable wastes can be transformed into fertilizer or soil conditioner in the form of compost. Compost is a humus-like material that usually results from the aerobic biological stabilization of the organic materials in solid wastes. The operation includes preparing the refuse and de grading organic matter by aerobic microorganism. The refuse is presorted to remove materials that might have a salvage value cannot be composted, then it is ground to improve efficiency of the decomposition process. This can be a soil conditioner to and a fertilizer for flower heads, vegetables gardens, trees and shrubs (Guzman et al., 2010)

  

  Composting technology is basic and simple, requiring minimum skill and capital with the joint effort of the government and AWARE Inc., (1996) the process is further enhanced. Biodegradable wastes can be composted and turned into organic fertilizer in a process that essentially returns the wastes to the earth. Food wastes such as peelings, leftover, vegetable trims, fish/fowl, and entrails, soft shells, garden wastes such as manure and carcases are compostable and become organic fertilizer through a controlled process of biological decomposition in about 35 to 45 days. It is a messy and tedious process, but it is good for the earth and is profitable (Lapid, Ancheta & Villareal, 1996).

     Burning Wastes. In cities that do not have enough land available for landfills, controlled burning of wastes at high temperatures to produce steam and ash is a preferred waste disposal technique. Combustion reduces significantly the volume of wastes to be disposed. Moreover, solid wastes can provide for a continuously available and alternative source for generating energy through combustion. This energy can be channeled into useful purpose (Debashree, 2012).

    Open Dumps. As reported by Cunningham ad Cunningham (2006), often, the way people dispose of waste is to simply drop it in some places. Open, unregulated dumps are still the predominant method of waste disposal in most disposal in most developing countries. The giant third world megacities have enormous garbage problem.

Studies Related to Solid Waste Management

     According to Busalla, Cones, Mercader, Morales Serrano (2013) on their study on The Level of Waste Management in the Selected Public School in Cebu City: Proposed improvement, education is an essential part of our existence which is why approximately 23 million of the Philippines’ population today is enrolled in elementary and secondary education. Of the 23 million, around 20 million are students of the public schools while the rest, about 3 million, are enrolled in private school. With the recent implementation last June 4, 2012 of the K-12 educational system, this number will increase exponentially in the years to come.

    Due to the expected rise in numbers of enrolees because of the new educational system, environment health is the one of the main concerns of the school and the government because it directly affects the students as well as the surrounding communities. Almost the quarter of the population is the elementary and the secondary students and as a group, they have an enormous impact in the environment. This impact is geared towards a positive one. The capacity of these students to influence is used appropriately so as to raise awareness and to compel the rest of the population to do the responsible act of proper waste disposal.

Prohibited Acts

    According to the brochure of SCC Health and Environmental Committee the following are the Prohibited Acts 1) littering, throwing, dumping of waste in the campus and vicinity, 2) pasting on walls using double-sided, adhesives and packaging tapes, 3) used of non-environmentally acceptable (styrofoam) and excessive food packaging, 4) bringing cold/ice water in cellophane in the campus, 5) junk-food vending (high in sugar/high in salt) in the campus, 6) used of plastics or cellophane as bunting, 7) used of non-environmentally acceptable materials on school activities, non-segregation of wastes in offices and buildings 9) open burning of solid waste.

The Ecological Solid Waste Management Act

     Republic Act. No. 9003or the “Ecological Solid Waste Management Act” provides the legal framework for the country’s systematic, comprehensive and ecological solid waste management program that shall ensure protection of public health and the environment. It underscores, among other things, the need to create the necessary institutional mechanism and, as well as imposes penalties for acts in violation of any of its provisions. (The National Solid Waste Management Commission Secretariat; Environment Management Bureau-DENR, 2012).

     As stipulated in Republic Act 9003, section 2, the policy of the state ensures the protection of the public health and environment; set guidelines and targets for solid waste avoidance and volume reduction through source reduction and waste minimization measures, including composting, recycling, re-use, recovery and green charcoal process among others. There must be appropriate and environmentally sound solid waste management facilities in accordance with the ecologically sustainable development principles. It ensure proper segregation, collection, transport, storage, treatment and disposal of solid wastes through the formulation and adoption of the best environmental.

Conceptual Framework

     The conceptual framework of this study shows the relationship of the college students from different colleges such as: CTE (College of Teaches Education), CBA-HRM (College of business and Accountancy & Hotel and Restaurant Management), CMAHS (College of Midwifery and Allied Health Services), CAS (College of Arts and Sciences), CECD (College of Extension and Community Development), CSW (College of Social Work), COA (College of Agriculture), CCS (College of Computer Studies), CT (College of Theology), and Technical Vocational Department to the awareness on Policies on Solid Waste Management in the campus. The awareness may depend upon the awareness of the students on the policies. Figure I shows the schematic design of this study.

               Independent Variable                                                                    Dependent Variable

Awarness on Policies on Solid Waste Management in the Campus among Senior High School students of Southern Christian College

STRANDS •      HUMSS •      STEAM •      ABM •      TECH-VOC

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Figure 1. Conceptual Framework of the study.