ANGELES CITY — In line with the full implementation of the “No Segregation, No Collection of Garbage” policy in 2024, the city government here under the administration of Mayor Carmelo ‘Pogi’ Lazatin Jr. will build its own material recovery facility (MRF) and garbage transfer station.
An MRF, sometimes called a materials reclamation facility or materials recycling facility, is a plant that separates and prepares single-stream recycling materials.
It is an essential component of the city’s garbage collection system to divert waste from landfills.
“Our soon-to-rise MRF will be useful to reduce the waste being dumped at the sanitary landfill. We will also find more ways to divert the waste being produced,” Lazatin said.
The city government has launched two programs that helps to divert waste — the Walang Plastikan: Plastik Palit Bigas and Black Soldier Fly Technology.
The Walang Plastikan: Plastik Palit Bigas was introduced last year to encourage residents to segregate plastics from their residual waste.
“While we aim to reinforce waste segregation and reduce the use of plastic, we are also offering a little reward for their effort — rice. Helping our kababayans to put food on the table,” Lazatin furthered.
One kilo of recyclable plastics is equivalent to one kilo of rice.
The plastics collected will be made into brick pavers and cement.
To date, a total of 2,141,442 kilos of plastic were collected from the city’s 33 barangays and redemption booths since January 2022.
Meanwhile, the black soldier fly technology helps lessen the biodegradable waste and converts waste into organic fertilizers.
“Kagaya po ng Walang Plastikan project po natin, itong black soldier fly technology po natin ay paraan po para mabawasan po ang mga basurang tinatapon po natin sa landfill,” Lazatin said.
To start the black soldier fly technology, offices from the city government, and some nearby business establishments in the City Hall turned over their biodegradable waste at the Central Composting Facility to show their support for the said project.
Meanwhile, City Engineer Donato Dizon said that the Central Composting Facility is open for everyone who wants to turn over their biodegradable waste and help the city in this project.
Mayor Lazatin continues to encourage Angeleño households to practice waste segregation at source.
Teams from the City Environment and Natural Resource Office already started the information, education, and communication campaign via house-to-house visits to inform the public of the proper ways to segregate their waste.