Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines

American Chamber of Commerce of the Phils., Inc. Australian-New Zealand Chamber of Commerce (Phils.), Inc. Canadian Chamber of Commerce of the Phils., Inc. European Chamber of Commerce of the Phils., Inc. Japanese Chamber of Commerce & Industry of the Phils., Inc. Korean Chamber of Commerce of the Phils., Inc. Philippine Association of Multinational Companies Regional Headquarters, Inc.

December 4, 2013 JFC Statement on House Bill 3161 Clean Air Act Amendments Metro Manila and many urban areas in the Philippines face a solid waste crisis and are running out of disposal capacity.1 Under the Solid Waste Management Act (RA 9003), barangays are responsible for collecting and separating biodegradable, compostable, and reusable materials, while the municipality collects non-recyclable and special materials. Sanitary landfills must be built to contain the future solid waste of the metropolis. Once in place and better waste management is achieved at the barangay level, the current sites can be closed. Because of leachate leaking hazardous chemicals into ground water and streams, current dumps still need to be cleaned. Under the 1999 Clean Air Act (RA 8749), all incineration is banned as a policy intended to avoid air pollution. However, the law ignored modern incineration technologies, which are non-polluting and can even produce energy and construction materials as byproducts. Aside from an imminent solid waste crisis, chemical and other hazardous wastes need to be properly disposed of and sometimes are shipped abroad. A Supreme Court ruling in January 2002 (GR 147465) affirmed that not all incineration is banned. The decision reads Section 20 [of the Clean Air Act] does not absolutely prohibit incineration as a mode of waste disposal; rather only those burning processes which emit poisonous and toxic fumes are banned. Despite the Supreme Court ruling, uncertainty remains, and incineration is not taking place. Environmental groups still claim that all incineration is banned to prevent air pollution. To avoid a solid waste crisis, the DENR should establish clear rules and standards that would allow modern incineration technologies. The JFC supports House Bill 3161, which seeks to amend the Clean Air Act to encourage viable alternatives for effective and sufficient systems of waste disposal other than landfills. Allowing non-polluting modern waste-disposal technologies including clean incineration has been an advocacy of the JFC for over 10 years and is included as a recommendation in the Arangkada Philippines 2010: A Business Perspective.2 The utilization of incineration to effectively and efficiently manage municipal, biomedical, and hazardous wastes should be allowed as a matter of national policy as long as the incineration processes meet clean air emission standards. Many countries use modern means of incineration to dispose of solid waste without polluting their skies. The Philippines should catch up with these countries and create an alternative to the proliferation of landfills and one of the solutions to the growing solid waste challenge.
1

Asian Development Bank (ADB), The Garbage Book: Solid Waste Management in Metro Manila. ADB, 2004 2 Arangkada Philippines 2010: A Business Perspect, pp. 267-8, 275. http://www.investphilippines.info/arangkada/climate/environment-and-natural-disasters/