Aidan Tan

226122
ENVI 10.01-CE - K
Trace your Trash

1. Go to where your household trash is located. What are your observations? How
do you dispose of trash in your household? Do you segregate your trash?

Our household trash is generally put in the same trash bin aside from the recyclable wastes
such as plastic bags, clean paper bags, and plastic bottles. These recyclable wastes are put in
a different storage room where they sit until we collect enough of them to sell to junk shops. We
also have a lot of plants in our household. Because of this, we have a separate container for
compostable waste that we use to fertilize our plants. Overall, we only segregate our trash from
recyclables and compostable wastes.

2. What are the other garbage disposal programs that are being implemented in your
community? If none, craft a recommendation to properly manage waste disposal
in your area.

In Metro Manila and in my community, one of the most popular programs when it comes to
plastic recycling and management is the "Tapon to Ipon" program. This program is an initiative
of Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines, Inc. that deployed pop-up booths that collect any kind of
PET Plastic bottles. Aside from this, other companies and government bodies implemented
similar programs such as Unilever’s "Kolek Kilo Kita para sa Walastik na Maynila" program and
PCEx and Manila Government’s collaborative effort, “Aling Tindera: A Waste to Cash Program.”
These programs involve exchanging recyclable waste materials for monetary compensation.
These recyclable waste materials are then repurposed into various other materials in the
material recovery facilities all over the city.

Overall, these programs help our community by not only lessening the waste products thrown
into landfills and dumps, but also helping the community get materials for production and
financial compensation which will boost the economic growth of the city.

3. Make an investigation where your trash is transported after it was collected.

According to the MMDA’s official website, the trash will be collected from individual homes in
over 1,709 Barangays by garbage collectors and the over 1206 garbage trucks. After that, the
waste will be transported to transfer stations where it will be segregated and sorted into
biodegradable, recyclable, special, and residual wastes. The next step is waste processing and
treatment in select facilities all over the city. A bigger truck will then transport the treated solid
wastes to the three selected landfills that house Metro Manila’s waste, namely: the San Mateo
landfill, the Navotas landfill, and the Rodriguez landfill.

Overall approximately 98% of the barangays in Metro Manila, including the one I reside in,
follow and comply with this framework.

4. If the National Government has chosen your city to be the host location of a
sanitary landfill for the solid wastes of neighboring cities, would you agree? Why
or why not?

If the National Government has chosen my city to be the host location of a sanitary landfill for
the solid wastes of neighboring cities, I would disagree for a number of reasons. First of all,
Metro Manila is the most densely populated city in the country, with millions of people living in it.
With this, comes the challenge of finding a suitable location in Metro Manila that won’t affect the
living conditions of the people living around the theoretical landfill. Creating a landfill in Metro
Manila would also be relatively expensive as the land costs in Manila are higher than most of
the other cities and provinces in the Philippines. Another reason why Metro Manila is not the
suitable location for a landfill is that it may reduce the economic growth of the city by using up
land space that could be instead used for commercial and residential purposes because it is
considered to be the most economically developed city in the country. Finally, creating a landfill
in the middle of the city may create environmental concerns as Metro Manila is already polluted
as it is, so the addition of a landfill could only worsen the already bad situation.