(PIA-EASTERN SAMAR)
TACLOBAN CITY – The municipality of Guiuan, Eastern Samar, is moving closer to modernizing its solid waste management system with the partial delivery and successful testing of equipment for its new Guiuan Resource Ecocycling, Extraction and Neutralization (GREEN) facility.
The equipment, provided through a P25-million investment of the NAC Foundation, includes a power generator, baler, multipurpose shredder, glass crusher and pulverizer, concrete mixer, eco-brick maker and conveyor belt.
The facility, which will also serve Barangay Banaag, is designed to process discarded materials into useful and reusable products while reducing the volume of waste that ends up in disposal areas.
Once fully operational, the GREEN Facility will process biodegradable waste into compost and organic fertilizer, while recyclable and other non-biodegradable materials will be converted into eco-bricks and other recovered products.
The project is also expected to generate livelihood opportunities for residents through waste recovery and recycling activities.
The municipal government of Guiuan said the facility will help strengthen the implementation of Republic Act No. 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, particularly in promoting waste segregation, recycling and resource recovery.
The local government urged households, business establishments, institutions and barangay local government units to strictly observe waste segregation and support its “no segregation, no collection” policy.
Officials emphasized that segregation at source is crucial to ensure that recyclable and recoverable materials can be properly processed and transformed into new products instead of being disposed of.
The municipality expressed appreciation to the NAC Foundation for the equipment and credited the initiative of Mayor Annaliza Gonzales-Kwan for helping facilitate the acquisition and establishment of the GREEN Facility.
The project forms part of the municipal government’s continuing efforts to address improper waste disposal and eventually end open dumping, which officials said poses environmental and public health risks to communities.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)
