Iloilo City environment office to recycle campaign materials

 

ILOILO CITY – Candidates for various posts in the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) are told to secure their campaign materials after the Oct. 30 polls, as the Iloilo City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) estimates election wastes to reach more or less 15 tons.

“These campaign materials will be collected separately, and we will add that to our program with Cemex, a cement factory, where we have a MOA (memorandum of agreement) for the refuse-derived fuel for co-processing,” said CENRO head Engr. Neil Ravena in an interview on Wednesday.

Ravena said during the previous elections, the estimated waste generated reached around 12 tons, mostly made of plastic.

“These are low-value materials for recycling but one of the longest waste to decompose. Good for us; we have a MOA with a cement factory. They could get this as an alternative fuel for their co-processing," he said.

As the campaign period draws to a close, Ravena reminded candidates not to mount their materials on trees since "it will affect the growth of the trees."

Meanwhile, CENRO and the General Services Office (GSO) have started preparations for the "Undas".

Ravena said his office will deploy over 300 sweepers to ensure the cleanliness of roads leading to city-owned and other big cemeteries, provide waste bins and black plastic bags, and mobilize six big dump trucks to collect segregated organic and non-organic wastes.

Garbage collection monitors are assigned in every district to ensure the collection of wastes as scheduled.

“We expect a 15 to 20 percent increase in our total volume of wastes that will be accepted in our sanitary landfill. More or less 30 to 40 tons in one day,” he said, adding that during regular days, the daily wastes collected can reach up to 400 tons.

Currently, they are already conducting cleanup in city-owned cemeteries, including tree trimming and pruning. (PNA)