Juan Franco C.

Quinto

September 20, 2016

BA Political Science IV
PS 189

Assessment of the Solid Waste Management Facility of Lapu-Lapu City

The city of Lapu-Lapu has been the one of the innovators of unique ideas aimed to
become a good example to other cities in the Philippines. Being dubbed as the Resort City,
Lapu-Lapu is praised for numerous tourist attractions and beautification projects. Aside from
this, Lapu-Lapu City also made cleanliness and environmental protection its priority. In 2009,
Lapu-Lapu City actively responded to the implementation of the of Republic Act 9003 which
is known as the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000." The city government
built a Materials Recovery Facility for the purpose of recycling much of the solid wastes that
was collected around the city.
The MRF aimed to segregate the wastes and convert them into usable materials that
will serve the purpose of everyday livelihood and reduce the residual wastes as possible.
Biodegradable wastes are converted into natural fertilizers that are useful for the facilitys
vegetation section. Plastic bottles are sold to recycling companies and other plastics will be
shredded that will be used to make hollow blocks and plant boxes. Papers were either sold or
converted into cardboards. The MRF facility in Lapu-Lapu is one of the few fully operational
MRF facilities in Cebu that even some cities in Metropolitan area aimed to build the solid
waste management based on the citys facility system.
We visited the MRF facility last September 7 and my first impression is that the
facility seemed to following a proper process of segregating the wastes as mentioned in the
Act. Before the wastes are sent to MRF the local government had already ordered the
barangays to segregate the wastes so that it will be easier and faster for the workers in the
facility to finalize the segregation process. After the segregation process, the materials are
sent to designated areas for recycling process while the residual wastes are sent to sanitary
landfill. Papers and cardboards are sent to cardboard compressor and the product is sold to
companies that recycle these materials for their own business. Plastic materials are sent to
shredding machine to become materials for creating hollow blocks. We went to the refinery
and the soil and dust debris from the wastes are sent there to and refined to remove any small

hard materials such as plastics and metal. The refined soil, together with the composted
biodegradable materials is converted into fertilizers for the vegetation area in the facility. In
the garden, the workers planted from ornamental plants to vegetables. Grown ornamental
plants are sent to public areas for the beautification and greening projects of the local
government. Vegetables are sold fresh to the market giving the facility workers income.
Due to some improvements, the workers of the facility are already earning above the
minimum wage enough to feed their families. There also has been cooperation of a foreign
company that wanted to install incinerator that will be a big help for the facility to reduce
much waste as possible. There are also plans that the governments waste management unit to
collect the wastes from the private establishments provided that they will pay a tax for this.
To the evaluation of the facility in accordance to RA 9003, the MRF had abide some
provisions cited in the act. They had utilized environmentally-sound methods that maximize
the utilization of valuable resources and encourage resource conservation and recovery. They
had observed the proper systematic segregation, collection, and treatment of the solid waste
materials and converted them into products that will promote environmental sustainability.
The waste materials management became the source of livelihood for workers promoting
sustainable development. The plans for involvement of private sectors in the waste
management is already under way and improvements are sought with the cooperation of
international organizations.
The MRF in Lapu-Lapu City served as a model for the other cities in metropolitan
Cebu. It set the standards of solid waste management for the local governments in Cebu and
other provinces in Region 7. It is necessary that all local governments will have this kind of
waste management facility by taking an initiative. But then again, as citizens, the responsible
treatment of wastes starts with us at our households.